I Did What?
by Zombie450AriesBournePrincess
Summary: You tell yourself that it would never happen to you. That you're smart enough to know better than to do something so stupid. You hear about it happening but you never for a second think you would be one of those it would happen to. Jess went to Vegas for work, Rory went to spend the weekend with Paris in Vegas.
1. Chapter 1

_**Random idea that wouldn't leave me be. I'm not sure if there will be more to this or not. If enough people want a few more chapters, I can do that. I'm sorry if they happen to be a little OOC.  
**__**Italics are flashbacks.**_

* * *

Rory woke up with a groan. Her head was pounding, the light that seeped in through the closed curtains burned her eyes. The cold metal band around her all to important finger, had her head ready to explode. Her eyes stayed shut feeling the bed dip down. She was scared to face her drunken mistake. She should had never listened to Paris.

You tell yourself that it would never happen to you. That you're smart enough to know better than to do something so stupid. You hear about it happening but you never for a second think you would be one of those it would happen to. Yale graduate, pro/con lists were the way you dealt with major life altering decisions. Rash judgement wasn't who you were. How did I end up in such a predicament?

* * *

_"Come on, Gilmore," Paris said walking out of the bathroom entering the hotel suit they were in._

_"I didn't invite you out here to party, Paris. I need a friend at this moment," Rory stated closing her lap top._

_"I'm not going to be the witness of your sob story. It's been 6 months, Rory!" Paris yelled walking about the room. "You turned Huntzberger down. If you wanted to be with him so bad you should have said yes." Paris was beyond infuriated with Rory. she of all people knew how long it took a broken heart to mend but at this point after you turned them down, you should be at the stage where you think about moving on from him._

_"Our lives weren't going the same direction. I needed to be out in the real world on my own. I wasn't ready then and I'm not ready now for marriage. I'm not having this conversation with you, Paris."_

_"I didn't ask, Rory. The bottom line is you can't keep yourself buried in work. You got the next few days off. Relax and have fun is all I'm saying. We don't have to go all out. Let's just go down to the bar in the hotel and have a drink. That's all," Paris told her friend._

_"Fine, but only one drink," Rory stated giving into her friend._

* * *

The sweet smell of coffee brought her back to life. Slowly she opened her eyes. She was genuinely surprised to see the man sitting next to her. She blinked her eyes quickly, rubbed them rather hard to make sure her mind wasn't playing a joke on her.

"Morning," the gruffy male voice matched the face. She honestly didn't remember seeing him or even talking to him last night.

"Morning, Jess," Rory squeaked out.

"Here," Jess said handing Rory the cup.

"What happened?" Rory asked slowly sipping on the hot black goodness that filled her glass mug. She spotted two of them by the coffee machine yesterday when she had entered the hotel room for the first time. But this room was different then the one she shared with Paris.

"Don't you remember?" Rory shook her head. She remembered a million shots being downed one after another. Paris had left her alone stating she needed to go call Doyle or something like that. She had refused to go back to the room. She had felt so free. "You were pretty wasted when I walked in. We had a few drinks. You spilled everything about Logan to me," Jess told her filling some blanks in.

Jess had been the only one that was able to get away for the weekend to met up with a potential new author for Truncheon books. A weekend away always seemed nice. Anything to get away from Matt and Chris. Not that he didn't like the two guys, they could just be a bit much at times. Vegas had more of an appeal then staying with the two people who easily got on his nerves when they really tried.

* * *

_Jess stood at the bar a beer in hand. Of all the places he thought he would run into Rory Gilmore, Las Vegas was never the place that crossed his mind. Sure he had yet to actually go over to her and say hi. He didn't want to make this weird after the way things had ended with them. They hadn't been in contact since that night. He never asked Luke about her and Luke never gave up any information either._

_"Singapore Sling, please," Rory order using the counter top to hold herself up for the most part._

_"They're gonna cut you off soon," Jess stated with a smirk. Rory took offense to that. She turned with her withering stare to see Jess Mariano standing before her very eyes. "That stare has gotten better since 17," Jess remarked._

_"Jess?" Rory asked blinking her eyes a few times fast. "Oh my god, Jess!" Rory squealed jumping on him for a hug. Jess pushed the new drink away._

_"She needs a water," Jess told the bartender. A tall glass of water replaced her drink. Jess helped Rory to a table. "Wanna enlighten me on why you're getting hammered alone?" Jess asked leaning on the table._

_"Paris was being a party pooper and left about an hour ago," Rory hiccupped._

_"Didn't you think you should have went with her?" Jess asked taking a drink of his beer._

_"And miss this?" Rory asked with bug eyes. "Never!" Rory stated banging the table with her palms. "What are you doing here?"_

_"Meeting a potential author tomorrow afternoon for lunch, you?"_

_"Had a weekend off from the Obama campaign. I invited Paris here to have a little girl time and talk. But she wanted none of that." Jess nodded with a chuckle. He was guessing Paris hadn't changed any over the years. He couldn't picture Paris being one for a girly day. "I should have listened to you about, Logan." That alone threw Jess off._

_"Why's that?" Jess asked._

_"He gave me this ridiculous ultimatum. I wasn't ready to marry him fresh out of college, so he left. Talk about a sucky graduation. That was 6 months ago. I loved him, did he not love me?"_

_"I'm sure he did, Rory." Jess had never been in a situation like this. He genuinely didn't know what to say. He had never been a fan of any of the guys Rory dated. He couldn't say if he had more of a dislike for Dean or for Logan._

_"Whatever, I'm over it," Rory stated matter of factly._

_"You don't seem over it," Jess replied placing his empty beer bottle on the table._

_"I am, why don't we go get married?" Rory asked a bright smile gracing her lips. "That'll show 'em."_

_"We uh, we can't, Rory." The question knocked the air right out of him._

_"Why not? You have someone back home?" Rory asked with a sad tone coming out._

_"No, there is no one," Jess told her with a sigh. There had been days he could only dream of this day with Rory, but he couldn't go through with it when she was wasted. "You're drunk, Rory. We can revisit this subject when you're sober. When you think without the alcohol effecting you. I can't marry you if this your way of showing people mainly yourself that you're over that dick from Yale."_

_"Sober or drunk, I want this, Jess. You know it as well as I do. It's always been us, even when you were a complete jerk! Logan has nothing to do with this. I'm over him, I don't have a care in the world about him. You and me, have always made sense. You know it, I know it, the whole world knows it."_

_"That should make you not want to marry me." It wasn't as if he was trying to get out of ever being with her again. He still loved her, she just wasn't in the place to be getting married._

_"You've changed, Jess. You can't say anything to make me not want to do this. I'm serious, Jess. What's stopping you other than I'm a little drunk?"_

_"You're not just a little drunk, Rory and really?" Jess asked mostly himself. There really was no other reason he could think of. There was little things, but they'd always be there. "I guess, nothing."_

_"Then it's settled, we're getting married," Rory beamed downing the last of her water getting up._

* * *

"Why didn't you try harder to talk me out of marrying you?" Rory asked. Her insides flipped with joy, they really did. Her mind raced telling her this wrong. How was she supposed to explain this to Lorelai? This wasn't her one bit. "We didn't have, you know?" Rory asked her cheeks flushing a bright pink color.

"No, we didn't have sex," Jess replied finding Rory irresistible. "I didn't have a chance in winning that battle, Rory. If this isn't what you want, we can go get it annulled. On Monday." Jess was giving her a way out. But did she want that? This wasn't about how disappointed Lorelai would be. It was about what she wanted.

"If I agree to stay married to you, can we figure everything out as we go?" Rory asked playing with the blanket that laid over her lap.

"We can and will figure everything out, as soon as you're done with the campaign trail." It all sounded wonderful. A future with the man she loved once. The man she might still love. This was a risk worth taking. If it didn't work out in the end, then it wasn't meant to be. She smiled up at Jess biting her lip. She never was good at telling him no, even when she did it was hard to do. The timing was off but it felt right. Sitting her coffee cup down she moved in to kiss Jess on the lips.


	2. Chapter 2

**I've decided to write more for this story. I'm not sure how many chapters there will be yet.**

* * *

Days and weeks had rolled into a month for Rory. She had been so busy traveling from one city to another. The scenery had found a way to stay the same as she went. The only things that were different about her hotel rooms were the walls. A bed, a table, a TV and a bathroom. She rarely ever talked to Lorelai. When she did it was only ever for a few minutes every couple of weeks. Jess, her now husband, she talked to him a few times. They kept to the lighter side of things. The last thing either one wanted was to start a fight over the phone. She tried to call him every day, that's when a round of phone tag would start.

Since she wasn't able to go home for Thanksgiving, she worked extra hard to get home for Christmas. Part of her dreaded the most awful conversation she would ever have in her existent with her mother. She had been stuck on what it was she was to do for Christmas. She had talked to Jess about it and he had informed her that he was going back to Stars Hollow for Christmas. It was more to see his baby sister and Luke then anyone else. Once he had heard that Rory would be coming home he knew it be easier on her if he went to Stars Hollow.

It had been a little over 3 weeks since the last time she had been able to talk to her mother. In a way it was a relief on Rory. There was no way she could tell her mom that she had gotten drunk in Vegas, married Jess and had decided to stay married to him. That wasn't a good conversation in person let alone over the phone. No, this conversation was to be dealt with in person.

A huge smile crossed her lips seeing the raven haired man who waited on her. A soft giggle come out seeing that he was more focused in his book then the people who filled the airport. Slowly she made her way over to him. Nothing about him had changed since the night she had mistakenly kissed him at the opening of Truncheon Books.

"The general rule when waiting for someone in general no matter the place, you keep your nose out of any and all books and focus on the person who you are waiting for. In this case it would be your lovely wife," Rory rattled off sitting next to him trying to read over his shoulder. Jess shut the book he was making notes in turning to face Rory.

"Huh? That's new to me," Jess playfully retorted.

"How are we doing this?" Rory asked suddenly turning serious. She had thought about all the ways she could tell her mom. She had figured the best way to do it would be just her and Lorelai. But now that she was sitting here with Jess. She felt it might be better to have Jess there to support her. "Luke and mom are dating again," Jess leaned forward pressing his lips against hers. Rory smiled into the kiss. "Hi."

"Hey," Jess chuckled. "We're in this marriage together so we will tell them together," Jess responded getting up.

"Fair enough." Jess helped Rory stand and took her bags. Married to Jess felt surreal to her. She had dreamt about marriage and kids and one point she had saw Jess as that person to stand by her through thick and thin. Even when she told him she would leave Obama's campaign trail and find a job in Philadelphia to live with him to make their marriage work, it was Jess who made her stick with it. They'd figure things out as they came.

Rory had found herself in a dilemma. Luke's had the best coffee in the world. She had traveled enough to know this. Nothing compared to the delicious black liquid gold that Luke served. She wanted a decent cup of coffee. On the other hand she had missed her mom and she really wanted to go see her at the inn. She had practically jumped out of Jess's car before he had completely stopped. She was happy to see that her mom was sitting at the counter at Luke's. The thought of her mom being at Luke's had crossed her mind she just hadn't really expected it, with it being the middle of a Thursday afternoon.

"Mom!" Rory yelled running into Luke's "Coffee please, Luke?" Rory asked.

"My one and only daughter," Lorelai beamed jumping from her stool. They shared a huge embrace in the middle of the diner, bring smile's to the faces of the customers. The smiles faded seeing the town hoodlum step through the door.

"Hey Uncle Luke," Jess greeted sitting at the counter.

"Jess? Hey, I wasn't expecting you."

"That makes two of us. But I'm so far out of the loop I didn't know my daughter was coming home for the holidays," Lorelai announced noticing the ring on Jess's hand. "He's married? You're married? Where is she?" Lorelai asked looking around. Rory looked around a nervous smile coming out.

"Luke, can we go talk up stairs in your apartment?" Rory asked keeping her left hand hidden at all costs.

"Uh, yea," Luke replied. Rory and Lorelai headed upstairs.

"What's going on?" Lorelai asked sitting at the table.

"I have something to tell you. But it needs to wait a few minutes."

"Why can't you tell me now?" Lorelai asked feeling the panic start to raise in her stomach. "This is serious? Isn't it?" Lorelai asked seeing that her daughter had panic in her eyes. Rory nodded licking her lips. "You're not pregnant with some strangers baby are you?" Rory gave her mom a funny look shaking her head.

"Everything alright in here?" Luke asked walking through the door followed by Jess.

"Have you said anything?" Jess asked looking at Rory. She shook her head. Jess sat down by Rory holding her hand.

"What's going on here?" Lorelai asked not liking the conclusion that was forming in her head. "He's a married man, Rory. That's adultery, again. Didn't you learn your lesson the first time around with Dean?" Rory cringed at that. Jess didn't know anything about that and as far as she knew Luke didn't either.

"It's not adultery when you're the one married to him," Rory responded holding her hand out for them to see the ring on her finger. It was best to skip over the big elephant that Lorelai had released in the room. "We haven't been intimate." She had felt that needed to be out in the open.

"It's not ideal by no means. A split second decision. A risk in our lives that we took together. It happened and now we're dealing with everything together. The way it should be dealt with. We talked and figured out that staying married is best for us. I'm not going to push Rory into anything. I wont let her quit the Obama Campaign. I want Rory to succeed at everything she does. I want what's best for her, that has never changed over the years." To say he got stared at was an understatement. Luke hadn't heard him say that much the whole time he had stayed in Stars Hollow, Lorelai didn't even know he could say that much at once and stick up for the huge mistake they did. She wasn't one to talk about stupid wedding mistakes though. At least when she did she was older and it was to the father of her daughter. It was a mistake, one she didn't regret because it showed her she wasn't meant for Chris but for someone else.

"How'd this happen?" Luke asked pulling out a chair. His legs felt as if they were ready to give out on him at moments notice.

"Vegas, I was drunk and convinced Jess to run off and get married. He was there on business, I was there with Paris to have some much needed girl time. We talked when I was sober and we've come to the conclusion that we want to see where this goes between us."

"This isn't the Rory I raised. This isn't her," Lorelai muttered.

"I've changed, mom. This is who I am now."

"Rory, this is the same Jess that destroyed your relationship with Dean, the one that hurt you, I don't even know how many times. And you're gonna sit here and tell me he's the Clyde to your Bonnie?"

"I hurt him too, mom. This isn't about the past, this is about our future together. We'll work our past out, we have to in order to move onto the future, but right now I want to be married to him."

"You wouldn't marry Logan, but in a split decision well drunk, you run off and marry Jess. Seriously Rory?"

"Jess has always been a better man than Logan. It took some time to see that. Jess convinced me to go back to Yale, it was Jess I went to when I had a problem with my relationships." Jess and Luke sat at the table neither one dared to say a word and interrupt the Gilmore girls. "He's changed, if you took a chance on him you'd see that. He's not some hoodlum, he's the man I knew he could be if he let himself open up to the idea of it."

"When did you have a problem with Logan that you had to run to Jess for?" Lorelai asked processing everything she had been told.

"Bridesmaids, open house in Philadelphia," Rory replied. "I know this isn't ideal but I do want this, like him or not he is now your son."

"In law," Lorelai announced rather quickly. "I don't agree with you on this but it's you're decision and your responsibility to tell the grandparents you're now married. You're grandmother is going to be so delighted to hear you married Jess." At the mention of her grandparents Rory squeezed Jess's hand. Her grandma was going to hate the very idea of the way she got married and to whom. She wasn't quite sure how her grandpa would react to the news. With telling Lorelai this, Rory knew that her mom would be disappointed in her but wouldn't disown her over it. At the end of the day it was her life to live how she felt acceptable, Lorelai would let her daughter live however Rory wanted to live it.

"In the odd manner of you two getting married, Congrats on that. I'm happy for the both of you, proud even," Luke told them getting up. "however things turn out between the two of you."

"Thanks, Luke." Jess got up allowing the mother and daughter to have a minute alone.

"You just had to run out and marry James Dean, didn't you?" Lorelai asked once they were alone.

"I can't help the way I feel about him. I got so use to being showered with fancy gifts from Logan. For so long it was always a certain way to do things but with Jess, the world is my canvas. I'm free to do what I want, 'cause Jess is going to be there to catch me when I fall. I'm not saying Logan had never been there to help out when I needed it because he was, but my heart has always been Jess'."

"I get it Hun, I really do. I don't have the best track recorded when it comes to men but they were only ever hurdles to get to the right one. If Jess makes you happy then I support you on this."

"That means a lot to me, mom," Rory beamed hugging her mom. "What's going on with you and Luke?"

"Dating, which after everything seems to be the right place to start. A lot has happened between us and there is no need to rush into anything. We're good." It was good to see her mom so happy and giddy after everything. "You're in luck the grandparents are staying home for Christmas this year."

"Why?" Rory wasn't ready to face them with this news yet or ever.

"They couldn't risk a chance of missing you. Tomorrow is their Christmas party. You get to being your newly crowned husband," a chipper Lorelai announced. Rory paled at that. Without saying a word Rory got up and left.

"I don't know where he went, all he said was nothing, I didn't get a chance to ask."

"That's ok Luke, I got a hunch I know where he's at." Walking to the bridge was the easy part, avoiding most the town was the tricky part. "No book in hand so this must be serious."

"You had an affair with bag boy?" This wasn't something he had wanted to make a big deal about, but his love for Rory mixed with hatred for Dean boiled over and he needed answers to this.

"It's not my most impressive moment. Or a moment I want to remember. But I did. Lapse in judgement. I felt like shit after turning you down, I was a complete mess, I made the wrong choice and broke a marriage up. He couldn't handle being with me. Knowing this can you still handle being with me?" She chewed on her lip as she waited anxiously for Jess to answer.

"It's not about our past, Rory. You did something fucked up, we all make mistakes, Rory. Some more than others. I made my fair share we're entitled to them." Jess placed a finger under Rory's chin making her look at him. Blue locked onto brown. "There's nothing you can say that'll make me doubt that marrying you was this big mistake in our lives. Because that's not even close to true." Jess swept his lips across her lips.

"My grandparents are still in town this year. They didn't want to miss seeing me, if I were to come home. I have to go to their Christmas party tomorrow night and you get the joys of coming along with me."

"Can't you pretend that you never came home for the holidays? That would be easier," Jess joked.

"I wish I could, Jess. But I do miss them and it's best to tell them our news now," Rory pleaded with him. It didn't take much for Jess to give in. He still hated suits but this was important to Rory so he would suck it up and go. He was going to need the same from Rory when they made a short visit to Liz.


	3. Chapter 3

Rory was scared to take a step out of the room Lorelai let them stay in while they're in town, free of charge. The second she heard that the whole town now knew about her sudden marriage to Jess, she started to freak. They would judge her about her drunken elopement, to top it off it was to the person the town despised. The town never liked the idea of them being together. It had very little affect on her then and now was no different. She wouldn't change her past with Jess for anything. They had their ups and they had their downs. But ultimately that's what brought them together, stronger than they ever were before.

"You don't have to go out there and face them. We can stay in and enjoy being alone," Jess replied wrapping his arms around her from behind. Rory smiled placing her hands on top of his arms. "We don't get much time for that with you traveling and me being stuck in Philadelphia."

"The perks of work," Rory stated feeling content in Jess's embrace as they looked out the window that had a view of the stables. "Jess, the town can think the worst about our marriage. They can and more than likely will have a town meeting about our nuptials, but that's the towns opinion, not mine."

"I know, Rory. You're more open-minded about people and things in general, than most people in this town. They can say and do whatever they want to. The only two people who matter in this are in this room together. They'll see that we can't be kept apart."

"You've gone soft on me, Mr. Mariano."

"It's ok to be vulnerable at times," Jess replied back moving Rory's hair from her neck. He trailed light kiss down to her shoulder. Rory tilted her head to the side giving Jess more room.

Jess had been a lot of first's in her life. She may not have been able to share her first kiss with him or been the one she lost her virginity too. But he was the first guy she was in love with. She loved Dean or thought she had. That was puppy love compared to what she felt for Jess. She was able to hand over her whole heart with so much ease, it scared her but enticed her even more. She wanted him to be her first. The thought about having sex with Dean never crossed her mind. But with Jess she was ready to give herself over to him, all of herself. Things went wrong and she had made the wrong choice. But here in this moment she was able to be with Jess. They were married, this wasn't sex, no this was love-making at it's finest.

Rory was tucked into his side, her finger traveling over his smooth, tan, very well-built abs. Jess was absent-mindedly tracing shapes on Rory's back. Neither one of them wanted to ruin their bliss. Rory looked up Jess resting her chin on him.

"Coffee or food?" Jess asked sensing something along those lines were coming.

"Both," Rory grinned causing Jess to chuckle.

"Should've known." Rory nodded getting up. "You're going where?" Jess asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Shower then we can go down to the dinning room," Rory told him holding back her sigh about facing the ton of questions they were sure to get bombarded with.

"Forget them, Rory," Jess told her tossing the sheet to the side. "We are in this together. Me and you, baby," Jess winked scooping her up. Rory giggled being sat on the counter in the bathroom. Jess got the water started.

They finally emerged from the room going to the dinning room seeing Lorelai and Luke waiting for them.

"Speak of the devil and look who appears," Lorelai smirked. Rory gave her mom a light glare. "I wasn't talking about Jess, I was talking about my once lovely daughter. I know I have the number for your exorcism in here somewhere," Lorelai joked digging through her purse.

"Haha, remind me to call the hospital for that CT scan," Rory dryly replied. "Hey Luke," Rory beamed.

"Hey, Rory, Jess," Luke nodded.

"I was thinking I could uh skip the party this year. You can tell them, I don't mind."

"Oh, no. I wont be yelled at for you not being there to break the ice about this. I'm not going to take the fall."

"We are talking about your parents," Rory pointed out.

"Don't remind me. They'll find a way to blame this on me. Why must they love you more than their own daughter?" Lorelai asked. Jess had a few remarks but he kept his mouth shut. It would be in his best interest to keep his mouth shut at this point. He didn't want a fight on his hands. He couldn't tell Lorelai off like he had done so many times in the past. This time he needed to get along with her, for the sake of his marriage. For the simple reason he now had Rory. He couldn't lose her now. Not after everything. Not again.

"The simple fact I'm the good little granddaughter that can do no wrong in their eyes," Rory stated matter-of-factly. "I say it now, I'm not at fault if Grandma has a heart attack when I tell them the news." The last thing she wanted to be was a disappointment to her grandparents.

"It may be a hard pill for them to swallow but it's done. My baby is a married woman. But like I do, they love you and they can't stay mad at you forever."

"Wanna bet?" Jess smirked. "They're getting up their in age. They might end up holding a grudge forever." He was regretting his words seeing the two women glaring at him. "All I'm saying is you can't let them get to the grudge part of things. Get everything smoothed out all at once. Make demands, agree to demands. Give them something they want, in exchange for everyone to be happy."

"My grandmother will want us to divorce and for me to go back to Logan. Two things that will never happen," Rory stated with authority.

"I don't either, Rory. Forget I said anything until after you talk to them. But do you really wanna show up the night of their party and embarrass them in front of their friends?" Jess asked placing his hand on hers.

"I don't want that at all and you have a point. The last time I caused a scene it didn't go over smoothly. This is a private matter that needs to be dealt with in private," Rory sighed. The idea freaked her out. Being alone telling them something as huge as this was worse than facing the town. But it needed to be done before the party on Friday. That only left her one single lone day to tell them her news. She gulped the coffee down that had been placed before her. "I'm going to go see Lane. Jess you wanna come?"

"Nah, you need some alone time with your best friend, I'll make myself useful and help good ol' Uncle Luke at the diner." Rory nodded kissing Jess quickly and headed out. Luke had let a small smile grace his lips seeing the two of them together. A part of him had always hoped that they would find their way back to each other the second they both smartened up. Lorelai wasn't all that disgusted by it. When they were 17 it was different she knew that it wouldn't work one way or another. She had never imagined them seeing one another again let alone get married. But something about them made her believe that they were made for each other in some crazy messed up way.

"You hurt my little girl and I'll personally hurt you. If this whole thing is some sick joke to you..."

"Lorelai, it's not some sick joke. I know I am the last person you wished for your daughter to ever marry but we did. I love her, I don't ever want to see her hurt at anyone's cost. I want everything you want for Rory."

"So you don't want her to be married to you either?" Lorelai quipped back with a half a smirk.

"I'm happy for the two of you. I've always been a fan of the two of you getting together. You ready?" Luke asked looking at Jess. He had to do something to keep them from having a full-blown out argument.

"Yep," Jess nodded getting up. "That's the last thing I want, Lorelai. You should know I'm not going to give up that easily." Luke and Lorelai shared a kiss goodbye and the two men were on their way. Lorelai sighed taking her cup of coffee into the kitchen.

Rory tried to stay invisible on her way through Stars Hollow. She had got with an eye sight of Lane's house before anyone had stopped her. She wanted to scream but gave Miss Patty and Babette a polite smile.

"What can I do for you ladies?" Rory asked.

"Nothing, sugah, we heard about your impromptu marriage to bad boy Jess Mariano," Babette stated cutting straight to the point which Rory was grateful for.

"We wanna say congrats hun. I've been married more times than none. You wouldn't have done it if you weren't in love with him. Secretly we've been waiting for this day to happen." Miss Patty wore a matching grin to the one that Babette had on.

"We knew you two were meant to be. Nothing against Dean or that Logan kid but they weren't right for you. Not like Jess is." Rory smiled relieved to hear that not everyone in Stars Hollow was against them.

"That means far more to me than you both will ever know." They squeezed Rory in a hug.

"Ladies, what is the means of this?" Taylor asked stopping next to them. "Oh hello, Rory, it's true?" He asked seeing the ring on her finger.

"If you're talking about my marriage to Jess, than yes it's very true. Couldn't be truer."

"We can get you out of this marriage. If he forced you, beats you anything like that," Taylor stated. "Who would volunteer to marry that hooligan?"

"It was actually my idea to marry him, Taylor! He changed in a wonderful way. He has never once in the whole time I've known him abuse me, Taylor. I don't know where you heard that. I wasn't forced into my marriage with him either. It's something I want. I love him," Rory stated with authority. "Thank you, Miss Patty, Babette," Rory gave them smiles turning to glare at Taylor. "I don't need your help with anything that concerns my marriage to Jess." With that said Rory walked past them and continued on her way. At this point she really wished she would have stayed at the inn. She couldn't believe her luck. She tried to walk past the man she once dated.

"Rory?" But he couldn't do that.

"Dean, hey," Rory greeted with a small fake smile. She wasn't looking forward to this. "I thought you were back in Chicago?"

"Back for the holidays visiting my folks. You?"

"Back to see my family. How are you? How's life?" Rory asked looking around to see Jess and Luke on the other side of the street. Rory shook her head letting Jess know she was ok and didn't him to come fight Dean off.

"Good, I'm married, I have a 6 month old little girl. You?" Dean asked. Rory smiled happy that Dean had his own family and shouldn't blow a casket hearing her news.

"It's tough day-to-day following the campaign trail, missing everyone but I make it work. I married Jess a few months ago. Things are good with him." She had thought that telling Dean about her marriage would be hard and nerve-wracking. The two of them had been through a lot through the years. But hearing about his happiness made it that much easier to tell him her news.

"That's uh fantastic." Rory could hear the fake enthusiasm behind his words. "I should be going, it was good seeing you."

"You too, Dean," Rory replied walking away from her ex. She hurried the few feet to Lane's. She went to knock but the door had been pulled open. Lane shrieked hugging a laughing Rory.

They sat on the couch facing each other playing a round of catch up. It was good to have some real quality time with her best friend once again. Rory got the low down on Steve and Kwan along with how Lane was missing the band and she needed to come up some way to have practice again and actual gigs. Rory had told her about how her marriage to Jess really came about and that she was actually happy with him. Lane smirked telling her she knew it. Lane was happy for her friend. She personally wouldn't have picked Rory and Jess spending the rest of their lives together but she could see what others couldn't. They had completed each other. She was bummed she wasn't in the wedding or at the wedding but none the less she was happy for her long time best friend.


	4. Chapter 4

"You sure about this?" Jess asked looking up at the house they had sat in front of for the last 10 minutes. Rory made no move to get out of the car.

"I need you to be in there with me Jess. I need your support. My grandma is going to disown me, but it needs to be done," Rory told him her eyes glued on the front door. The whole drive here she remained calm. It wasn't until the car came to a complete stop her nerves started to spike through the roof. "At this point, I don't know what my grandpa's reaction is going to be, I need at least one person on my side. And it would be best if you showed up to tell them the news. Ya know, own up to what we did."

"Come on the sooner we do this, the sooner we can get you to calm down and relax." Rory gave him a tiny glimpse of a smile. With a shaky hand she opened her car door. Jess was beside her in a heartbeat, placing a strong-arm around her. Slowly they made their way to the front door. With a shaky hand Rory rang the door bell.

"Rory, this is a surprise!" Emily beamed pulling her granddaughter into a hug. "Richard, Rory is here," Emily shouted into the house. She completely ignored Jess. He was alright with that.

"Rory?" Richard asked walking into the foyer. "This is a shock," Richard smiled hugging Rory. "What is it you are doing here?" He asked. "Who is this young man with you?"

"Let's go sit down and have a drink and Rory can tell us," Emily belittled Richard. Rory never had a chance to get a word in. She didn't even get to say hello to her grandparents before being whisked away from the door.

Rory sat as close as she could to Jess. It would only be a matter of time before her grandmother noticed the ring on her finger and that she was sitting next to Jess.

"What is it you wanted, Rory?" Emily asked sitting down, now that everyone had a drink. Both Rory and Jess placed their drinks on the coffee table.

"I'm married," Rory blurted out gripping Jess's hand in hers. She couldn't stop the words.

"WHAT?!" Emily screeched. "To whom?" She demanded.

"Emily would you relax? Please explain, Rory," Richard said staying level-headed at the moment.

"I went to Vegas with Paris. I got a bit drunk ran into Jess, Grandma, grandpa, this is my husband Jess Marino," Rory introduced in the midst of her story, motioning to Jess.

"I remember him quite fondly," Emily hissed. Rory ignored her grandma's comment and continued her explanation.

"We got married. And that's the way it's going to stay. I love him and he loves me!" Rory stated suddenly getting defensive seeing the scowl on Emily's face.

"You've turned into Lorelai!" Emily growled throwing her arms in the air storming out of the room. Rory sighed leaning into Jess.

"Sir, I love your granddaughter. We had a rocky past and we've moved past that. I'm willing to sign the dotted line the second, Rory wants out of this marriage, I'm not holding her against her will here. We have a bond that brings us together. Soul mates," Jess told the elder Gilmore, a rare smile making an appearance on his lips.

"What is it you do? Can you provide for my granddaughter if she didn't have a job? Where are you going to live?" Richard asked. His blood was boiling that his sweet granddaughter could still be so irresponsible after the yacht fiasco.

"I co-own a publishing house in Philadelphia, Truncheon Books. I've got a small apartment that will suffice until Rory is done with the campaign trail and we can find a bigger place. I have money saved to take care of Rory when it comes down to it," Jess explained, kissing the back of her hand.

"He also wrote a book," Rory piped in. She was still very proud of him for that one book.

"You expect Rory to move to Philadelphia to be with you?" Richard asked with a small laugh.

"Grandpa, you once said you would rather be in Philadelphia. If it means I get to be with the one I love, I'll move any where. They have amazing newspapers to work for. I don't mind making a home in Philly," Rory chimed in.

"Rory, this is your choice, I can see you're happy but I can't support this marriage," Richard stated. "Nothing against you, Jess, you seem like a fine young man. It was the way it had been done," he told them walking out of the room.

"Rory, are you ok?" Jess asked turning to face his wife. Using his thumbs he wiped the tears away.

"They hate me," Rory whispered falling into his embrace. Jess held onto her.

"They don't hate you, Rory. They're upset, they need time to come to terms about this, that's all," Jess soothed. Rory sighed holding onto him. She knew her grandma would act the way she had but she had hoped that her grandpa would have been on her side in this whole thing. She hated that she made them upset with her but this was her life and she couldn't do what made them happy or her mother or even her father, she had yet to tell him, but she wasn't about to jump in a car and go to Boston to tell him her news. It wasn't something she could do over the phone either. She'd have to find a better day to go and see him. She had to do what made her happy and being married to Jess made her the happiest she had been in such a long time. She truly believed that one day down the road she would be with him again when the time was right for both of them. Things may be a struggle now for them, but it would only make them stronger in the end. "They'll come around, Rory," Jess told her kissing the top of her head.

"I know and if they don't, I can't make them like the idea that we're married. It's their problem they need to work out themselves. I'm happy with you and I want this Jess, I kinda always have. I have always factored their opinion's in for things, but not this time. You mean more to me then anything else, you are now my family. I love you, Jess," Rory told him pouting her heart out.

"I love you, too, Rory," Jess whispered pressing his lips against hers in a tender kiss.

"I didn't know you were still here," Emily coldly said walking down the stairs.

"We're actually heading out," Rory snapped getting up.

"I don't see how you trust this boy, after all the times he has hurt you, Rory," Emily replied in a snobbish tone.

"Because I have forgave him, I have hurt him, and he has been able to look past that. Every couple has rocky moments they need to face together. How you handle them moments determines how far as a couple you can make it. Forgiveness is a key, even after everything, I can trust him. I have no reason not to trust him. Not any more. Jess, is my life now, my husband. Except it," Rory told her grandmother walking to the door, Jess close behind her. Even though she was in the car with limited space she felt free.

She wanted to crawl into her bed and feel invisible after the events that had taken place but instead she sat at Luke's nursing a cup of coffee.

"That bad, huh?" Lorelai asked sipping her own coffee.

"Grandma called me, you," Rory told her looking at the liquid in her cup. "Not that it's a bad thing," Rory quickly added hearing how it sounded.

"I know sweets, but to Emily Gilmore it is a bad thing. How did your grandpa take the news?"

"He asked Jess questions, he doesn't think I should be forced to live in Philadelphia, but I don't, I really don't. I know you don't understand, Mom, but, Jess makes me happy, really, really happy. I want this so much. He's truly my other half," Rory explained looking at Jess, who was behind the counter helping Luke out.

"I do get it, sweets," Lorelai replied looking over at Luke. "More than you know. I may not like the kid, but I wont ever stand in the way of your happiness. I wont be like my mother," Lorelai told her daughter with sincerity. She wasn't about to start dictating her daughter's life. She hated when she had to go through that, she couldn't and wouldn't do that to her daughter. She had let Rory make her own choice's growing up, it was a little late to change that now when she was old enough to do everything as a legal adult. "She called me, after you left," Lorelai stated gaining Rory's attention. "She blames me for this. Said it was my influence. I wouldn't be surprised if she called your father and blamed him too." Rory gulped hearing that.

"She wouldn't?" Rory asked fearing the worst.

"You know she will," Lorelai replied. Rory was in a panic yet again. "There's always a chance he couldn't answer her call." Rory sighed hearing her phone go off.

"Or he did," Rory said seeing it was her father that had called. "Hey, Dad," Rory greeted walking outside.

"Hey, kiddo," Rory lightly rolled her eyes at the nickname he still used. "I'm going to be in Hartford tomorrow morning, what do you say to a cup of coffee around 10?"

"I can make that, see you then," Rory told him.

"Bring that husband of yours," Christopher said with absolutely no emotion. "Bye Rory."

"Bye," Rory replied with a shaky breath hanging up. She walked back in. "Oh he knows and he's making a special trip tomorrow."

"Sorry, sweets," Lorelai responded rubbing her daughter's arm.

"Come on," Jess said walking over, he held his hand out. He could see that Rory needed a moment away. Rory placed her hand in his.

"Mom, it's not your fault," Rory told her walking out with Jess.

They walked in silence, to anyone else it would seem like they were walking around aimlessly, but they were on their way to the old bridge. Where technically they had their first date, even though Rory was still with Dean at the time.

"Why haven't we broke the news to your mom?" Rory asked looking off into the distance watching a family of ducks.

"Cause after all these years, things are still the same between us. I'm in no rush to fix things either. If I see her around, then I'll fill her in, but I'm not going to make a special trip to tell her." Hearing Jess explain things made Rory feel like she really didn't matter to him. "Everyone that matters in my life knows about us, Rory. My friends, Luke, Jimmy, they all know."

"You told, Jimmy about us?" Rory asked shocked.

"He called, asked what was new in my life, I filled the blanks in for him. Rory, I love you, I'm not ashamed of being married to you, but my relationship with my parents are nothing like yours. My dad ran out on me."

"So did mine," Rory stated.

"I know, but he also, came back and was a part of your life on and off. Mine wasn't, Liz, shipped me off, things are different. We don't call every day, every few months I talk to one or the other."

"Don't you want a relationship with your sister?"

"I do, but it's not that easy, Rory. You should know that," Jess told her. Rory nodded understanding how it went. She wanted a relationship with her sister but it wasn't that easy to do so. "If it makes you feel better, we can go over there tomorrow night and tell Liz, together."

"It does, that would mean a lot to me, Jess," Rory chimed in hugging him.


	5. Chapter 5

"Rory, there isn't anything he can do, you need to relax," Jess soothed rubbing his thumb over the back of Rory's hand. They had showed up earlier than they had needed to. Jess couldn't take Rory pacing around the room. He tried about everything. Coffee and books couldn't get her nerves to settle down. His only choice was to make her get ready and start their short journey to Hartford.

"He can kill you," Rory stated her heart beating even faster seeing her father approach them. "The last thing I want is a dead husband. I'm too young to be widow already," Rory quietly hissed standing up placing a fake smile on her face that was also filled with happiness seeing her father.

"Hey, Ror," Chris said coming to a stop at the table his daughter and son-in-law where at. He wore a genuine smile. It had been sometime since he had last saw his eldest daughter.

"Hi, Dad," Rory greeted swallowing her nerves that took that very moment to rise in her throat. They shared a quick hug. "This is, Jess, my husband. Jess, my father, Christopher."

"Nice to meet you sir," Jess greeted holding his hand out, standing up. Chris took Jess's hand and they shook.

"Nice to meet you," Chris replied. He ordered a cup of coffee before settling down at the small table.

"I was going to tell you when I was able to make a trip out to Boston. I wanted to tell you in person. We all know how Grandma is," Rory started not able to hold back any longer. "Honestly, I wanted to tell you in person, I was going to make a trip up to see you and explain things to you. I'm sorry," Rory sighed gently squeezing Jess's hand under the table. "How's Gigi?" Rory asked trying to take the conversation else where.

"She's good, Sherry is actually back in the states for a few days, she wanted to spend some time with her daughter for the day," Chris replied sipping on his coffee. He could sense that Rory wasn't ready to keep talking about the huge elephant in the room and he for once, wasn't going to push it. She said what she wanted to say for the time being. "It's alright, Rory, I know you would have. You've just been busy. How is the campaign trail going?"

"I loved it at first. Different cities, different scenery. Being out there writing for the presidential race. Beyond exciting, but now that excitement has died down, it's tiring, boring, it no longer challenges me and it's only been around 6 months. Everything seems to blend together. I can't wait for the day I can have a desk at an office, working from one place. It seems so mundane but so lovely at the same time. It breaks my heart to say this but Jess was right about me not being able to cut it as an over sea's correspondent."

"I never got to drive the car at you, for practice," Jess teased earning a laugh from Rory. Right then he could see the love that passed between them. He was happy that his daughter hadn't let the love of her life go like he had so many times and when he had a chance it was too late. That was one mistake he didn't have to worry about with Rory. After everything she had been through the last few years, she had really turned her life around. How could he not be a proud father?

"We all know, I've been a lousy father to you, making up for it with gifts and money," Chris spoke up knowing he needed to get it out of the way so it no longer loomed over them. "I can't tell you how to live your life or even who you should marry. I just want to get to know this black-eye-car-wrecking-arm-breaking-hooligan your lovely grandmother says you have married." Rory sighed hanging her head.

"Fractured wrist and it was my fault, I told him to keep driving, my choice. I have yet to get the low down on the black eye but that doesn't matter. He's not the hooligan that grandma thinks. He was nothing but polite when he was there for dinner. I kept egging him on. But he's changed since then, greatly. Like I've told him before, I'm proud of him." She gave Jess a smile seeing the embarrassed look fight its way onto his face.

"I co-own a publishing house/bookstore in Philadelphia called Truncheon books. Stop on in if you're ever in the area," Jess told him, feeling that he needed to say what it was he did for living.

"He wrote a book," Rory gushed forcing Jess to shake his head.

"I just might take you up on that offer." It wasn't very often he ever went to Philadelphia, but he did want to see where his son-in-law worked.

"It wasn't any good," Jess quickly threw out using his best defense mechanism. "And it was a short novel."

"Nonsense," Rory scolded. "He's being modest, the book was wonderful, I can never put the thing down." Not having enough room to take as many books to her hearts content she had settled on a handful of books, the main one being The Suspect.

"I see you have your biggest fan," Chris joked with a chuckle.

"She really is, I couldn't have done it without her," Jess responded dropping a kiss on Rory's temple. "She's been my muse for a few years now." Hearing Jess say that made her cheeks turn a light rose color. Her coffee had seemed more interesting at the moment. Rory knew somewhere deep within Jess he could have pulled out writing a book, without her helping him a long. But it was always nice to hear that she was his inspiration, his personal muse.

"I had came here to yell at you and ask what was wrong with you for running off and getting married. But now I can see that you guys didn't run off on a whim, you guys really love each other. You had a chance and you took it. What do I know about finding the one? You seem like a decent guy, who loves my daughter, I can't ask for anything more. I've got to get back, stop in when you get a chance?" He asked getting up.

"Of course and thanks, Dad," Rory told him meeting him for a hug.

"I'm proud of you, Ror." She smiled feeling the fatherly support in the form of a kiss on the top of her head. He may have come and went from her life when it was convenient for him, but his support on her marriage had meant the world to her.

"See no killings," Jess smirked.

"Why couldn't my grandparents be that way? Support me," Rory sighed finishing off her coffee.

"Because they wouldn't be Richard and Emily Gilmore if they were." Rory rolled her eyes at his words. She would make her grandparents see that Jess was different and that they could support her in this.

"At least my family is over with for the time being. Now we get to go see Liz." Jess groaned hearing that. Rory's family may had been difficult but Liz was on her own level of weird. He still wasn't on the best of terms with her and he wasn't sure if his relationship with her would ever get better. He wanted to be involved with his kid sisters life the best he could be but it was hard living hours and hours away.

"It'll be anything but quick and very painful," Jess muttered getting to his feet.

"Oh, hush," Rory replied smacking him on the chest. "It can't be as bad as my grandparents."

"No, it'll be worse," Jess smirked pulling Rory in for a much needed kiss. Rory melted into Jess's embrace, loving the way his lips felt on hers.

A few hours later saw them pulling up to Liz's house. Jess really wanted to skip this part but he had made a promise to Rory about coming here. Even though he wasn't on the best of terms with Liz things weren't as strained as they once were.

"Oh, Jesse," Liz gushed rushing outside letting the cold, crisp air fill her house. "My baby boy," she said pulling him into hug. Rory smiled pulling her jacket tighter around her body. Jess had awkwardly hugged Liz back.

"Hey, Liz." She had never been much of a mother in the later years. He couldn't remember a whole lot from his early years but they did have some fun for a few years before the alcohol, drugs and guys took over. She would always be Liz and never really his mom. They moved along into the warmth of the house.

"Rory, it's good to see you again. Are you guys dating again? You did my boy some good. Luke filled me in. Sit, sit." Liz motioned to the couch.

"You too, Liz," Rory replied with a smile. "Where's Doula?" Rory asked looking around.

"Upstairs asleep," Liz replied. "Do either of you want anything to drink?" She asked getting up. Rory shook her head.

"That's alright, we're fine," Jess said speaking up for both of them.

"You're Lorelai's daughter, right?" TJ asked walking through to the kitchen getting a beer.

"She is," Jess replied taking her hand in his. This time he needed the comfort. He wasn't nerves about the reaction he would get. He already knew Liz would be ecstatic. "We're not dating, we're married. It was a drunken..." At this point TJ shrugged and went on his way.

"I was the drunk one," Rory piped up. "You were sober. Drunk or not, I'm happy that it happened. I don't just love your son, I'm in love with him. Have been since I was 17, just didn't know it at the time." Jess pulled Rory to him kissing her head.

"Huh, I've felt the same way since the day you called me dodger," Jess smirked. Rory smiled remembering that day fondly.

"Oh, you guys are just so cute," Liz gushed. "Stay for dinner," she demanded getting up.

"We can't. We have a Christmas party at Rory's grandparent's house we must attend," Jess replied getting up. He was happy he didn't have to stay longer. He couldn't have picked a better a time to stop in and tell Liz their news.

"Such a shame." Liz was disappointed that her son and now daughter-in-law wouldn't be staying longer.

"We will try to make it back over for dinner before we leave Stars Hollow," Rory told her getting up. She was met with a hug and not the glare from her husband.

"That would be wonderful," Liz beamed pulling Jess into a hug. "Take care, my boy." Jess nodded breaking the grip Liz had on him.

"Why did you say that?" Jess asked in a panic the second they got back into his car. Rory smiled placing her hand on his arm.

"Who say's we're not gonna busy from now until the time we leave? I need to spend some time with mom and time with you. My time is already taken up. No free time what so ever," Rory smirked kissing him.

"Huh, seems we're gonna be quite busy the next few days," Jess replied resting his forehead against hers.

"Seems that way," Rory giggled moving back into her seat, letting Jess start the car for the warmth to take the chill out of the air around them.


	6. Chapter 6

They had made their way around saying hi to people. It had been more Rory, Jess faded into the background. Most the talk was either what everyone was going to do over the holiday, or the not so shocking topic to Rory or Jess, their wedding. Both were sick of telling people it was out of love and not out of spite.

"Why aren't you freaking out?" Rory asked looking over at Jess. He only shrugged. They hadn't been at the party very long but it seemed like a lifetime to the both of them. Jess would have rather used this time to be with Rory and figure things out with their future. Given she was on the road for work, they didn't have a lot of time to figure things out. The main one, they needed to find an apartment, they could afford. One too many guys shared the apartment over the store. There was no way Rory could fit to. That was besides the point, they were married and needed their own space.

"They've already made their opinions of me. I'm not going to freak out or worry about changing their minds. It's not gonna happen," Jess told her downing the last of his drink. "The least we can do is relax and have fun, Rory. It does no one any good to remain tense. So what they don't like me or even support us in this marriage. It's not about them, it's about us." Rory knew everything he was saying was true, but it was her grandparents. She wanted everyone close to her to support her marriage. She knew Emily and Richard would be the toughest ones to prove that she loved Jess and he loved her. But she was determined to do it.

"I'll try, but no guarantees," she told him. She cringed slightly hearing a certain voice. She had seen that Mitchum and Sheila Huntzberger were floating around but she had success in avoiding them and keeping Jess away. She had wondered if Logan was here as well. Part of her wanted to see him and the other part was frightened on seeing him.

"Rory, dear." Jess raised an eyebrow a nervous smirk playing across his face. He didn't know who this woman was, and the look that crossed Rory's face, she wasn't all that pleased about facing her.

"Honor, hi," Rory greeted turning around to face her ex's sister. "I didn't know you would be here? How's Josh?"

"Josh is fine, floating around somewhere. When Emily Gilmore personally invites you, it would be rude not to show. I wasn't expecting you to be here. How is everything?"

"Good, life is good," Rory told her nodding her head.

"It wasn't right what Logan had done to you, making you choose like that. He gets that from our father." Rory gulped looking for Jess's hand. She felt a calmness go through her body feeling Jess gently squeeze her hand.

"He did what he had to do and I did what was best for me, Logan went about things wrong, but I'm over him, Honor," Rory stated tugging Jess to move closer. "Honor, this my husband, Jess."

"The infamous Jess, Emily can't keep her mouth shut about how he drugged you to marry him. Now I'm not one to believe that grandmother of yours.."

"He didn't do anything. He actually tried to convince me not to go through with it drunk. I was drunk and I didn't remember a thing. But I'm in love with Jess and I'm happy I did it. Jess has never forced me to do anything against my will," Rory snapped anger setting in at her grandmother. Who do she think she was?

"Love," Honor sighed dreamily. "Best wishes to the both of you." Before Rory had a chance to ask if her ex was around Honor vanished into the sea of people. Rory turned to look at Jess with very apologetic eyes. She could see that he wanted to unleash his fury on Emily. She didn't blame him one bit, she was ready to a make scene in front of these people. It wouldn't be the first time she got into an argument with her grandmother in public. They weren't anyone to her. It wasn't as if she kept in contact with them after she left the DAR.

"You need to do something about your grandmother," Jess hissed in her ear. "There's a good chance I would get arrested if I went over there," Rory nodded giving him a gentle kiss.

"Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air and cool off. I'll be out in a few minutes and we can leave," Rory told him. Jess kissed her forehead and walked away. Rory sighed walking to where her grandmother was at. Rory ignored the hello's she got. She could see her mother out of the corner of her eye. Lorelai was watching her daughter closely ready to jump in if necessary.

She wasn't a fan of Jess and Rory's impromptu marriage but she wasn't going to go around saying things in hopes Rory couldn't take it and divorce Jess. Lorelai knew better. She had to take it in and get use to the fact that the spawn of the devil was now her son-in-law.

"I can't believe Rory married that bum," Emily stated with a roll of her eyes. "Out of all the suitable men she could have ended up with. I swear she's more and more like her mother everyday. Marrying beneath her," Emily said a taste of dissatisfactory in her mouth.

"Really? I know you don't like Jess, but he is my husband. The man I love," Rory seethed in a whisper not wanting to explode just yet.

"Rory, you remember..." Emily started to say ignoring every word her granddaughter spoke.

"Of course I remember them grandma," Rory snapped getting the evil eye from Emily. "I can't believe what you are saying about my marriage to Jess. Just because he doesn't come from money like you, doesn't make him diseased. I may have been drunk when I said I do, but I love that man and I'm happy I married him. Money means nothing if you don't love the person you are willing to spend the rest of your life with," Rory yelled turning to leave. She quickly turned back around to meet a shocked Emily. "I'm proud to be like my mother," she stated pushing past the now silent crowd. She grabbed her coat and purse and stormed outside slipping her arms in to the sleeves of her coat to keep herself warm. She walked around the side of the house where she could hear faint voices being carried by the chilly wind. Seeing the two figures, Rory stopped dead in her tracks.

This couldn't be happening. Not now. Everything was going so wonderful, apart from her grandparents. But Jess was right this wasn't about anyone but her and Jess. But this was a whole new level of wrong. Everything she feared in coming tonight, was slowly starting to happen. She was suddenly froze watching the scene unfold before her.


	7. Chapter 7

He could only deal with so much. The doubt that Emily kept trying to fill Rory's head with repeatedly, was enough to make any sane person land themselves into the psych ward. He had to wonder for a second if that was why Lorelai found a town like Stars Hollow friendly. That was up for discussion at a later date in time. He watched as yet another rich and snobby social lite had come up to Rory. He paid no attention to the words that spilled from her mouth. He honestly didn't give a rat's ass what anyone at the party thought of him or how his marriage to Rory had played out. The thing that should matter was the fact they were in love. They shared a love that many people search their entire lives for. They were two of the few people who had realized it before they got any older.

"It wasn't right what Logan had done to you, making you choose like that. He gets that from our father." Hearing _his_ name made Jess tense. He couldn't imagine the whirlwind of emotions going through Rory's head. He had seen that Rory needed him. He would always be there for Rory. He had made a huge mistake in ever walking away from her on more than one occasion. He vowed to himself that he would always be there for her, if he ever had the chance to stand by her again. He squeezed her hand signaling that he was still there for her. He wasn't going to say a word unless he felt the urge to do just that.

"He did what he had to do and I did what was best for me, Logan went about things wrong, but I'm over him, Honor," Rory stated tugging Jess to move closer. Reluctantly Jess moved closer. "Honor, this my husband, Jess." He placed a smile smirk on his face seeing this Honor woman's face fall. He had hopes of her passing out, now that would have been a sight to see. Plus it would have made this party interesting.

"The infamous Jess, Emily can't keep her mouth shut about how he drugged you to marry him. Now I'm not one to believe that grandmother of yours.." He tried so hard not to choke on the mouthful of vodka he had just poured into his mouth. Some how he was able to swallow the bitter liquid. He was going to say something here, but Rory had it under control.

"He didn't do anything. He actually tried to convince me not to go through with it drunk. I was drunk and I didn't remember a thing. But I'm in love with Jess and I'm happy I did it. Jess has never forced me to do anything against my will!" Jess smirked even bigger seeing how defensive Rory got over their marriage.

"Love," Honor sighed dreamily. Jess scoffed under his breath. "Best wishes to the both of you." Jess looked down to see the apologetic eyes of his wife. Emily had the power to judge him, he didn't care, it was the fact that she thought so little of her granddaughter, her own flesh and blood. All he wanted to do was storm over to where the judgmental ice queen stood and rip into her. He wouldn't lay his hands on her for two reasons, she was an old woman.

"You need to do something about your grandmother," Jess hissed in her ear. "There's a good chance I would get arrested if I went over there," Rory nodded giving him a gentle kiss.

"Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air and cool off. I'll be out in a few minutes and we can leave," Rory told him. Jess kissed her forehead and started to weave his way through the crowd of people. He grabbed his jacket and walked through the door. He found it was much colder outside now that the sun had dropped from the sky leaving the stars and moon to light up the dark sky. He leaned against the side of his car pulling out his pack of smokes. It wasn't often he needed to use them to calm his nerves, but from the events that went on tonight, he was in a desperate need for a release.

"Such a shame you're forced to crash this party?" Jess didn't need to see the dick's face to know who walked up to him. He could hear the smirk in his voice.

"When it's your in-laws, it's not really crashing, is it?" Jess asked with a smirk of his own. He kept his gaze down on his feet. He had so much anger built up for the man who now stood to close for comfort.

"I highly doubt you're married to Rory," he spit a dry chuckle finding its way out.

"Doubt all you want. Rory is now my wife. You had your chance with her, not my damn fault you screwed everything up. Better yet, it's not my fault you had always been second best," Jess growled looking up at the man. He still oozed of arrogance.

"Lie's get you nowhere man, it's pathetic," Logan shook his head, he had always thought this man before him was a joke. He couldn't see what Rory ever saw in him. He wasn't from the social class they were from.

"Jess," they both looked up to see Richard. "Logan, I didn't know you were coming?"

"I was in town, the invite was there, figured I'd stop by and see everyone." Jess flicked the butt of his cigarette onto the ground landing in a small pile of snow. He really wished that he could do that to his wife's ex.

"Head on in and I'll catch up with ya later," Richard informed him.

"Alright, Richard," Logan nodded and slowly started to walk towards the house.

"Jess, I want to personally apologize for the things my wife is saying in there. I've had time to think about things..."

"And do your research on me," Jess practically spat. He hated how rich people were always so quick to judge. They needed to step back and look at themselves for once. Richard chuckled lightly.

"That I did. You need to understand that I care about Rory, I'm her grandfather after all and I can't watch her make mistakes, I've done that once before when she dropped out of Yale. Thank you for getting through to her on that. I was quick to judge, I never took the chance to see just how in love you two really are. Just don't hurt her."

"I have no intentions of hurting her, I love her far too much to ever hurt her again. I've made that mistake before. I've learned from them. Ya know people do that," Jess replied stuffing his hands in pockets. "I can assume you only found out the better part of my life. I would say it's ok but we both know you and your wife had jumped to the conclusion that I was scum because I don't come from your social background." He was tired of keeping things in when it came to Rory's family. He had given Lorelai leeway for the fact, she knew him, not that he ever gave her anything but trouble since he walked into her life, but he never had any intentions of making friends with anyone in Stars Hollow until he came upon Rory.

"Yes, I suppose so. I'm sorry for reacting the way I had. Rory's happy and in the end that's the one thing that should matter. I hope with time, things between us get better."

* * *

Rory took a huge gulp of fresh cold crisp air to get her bearings straight seeing her ex approach her. She hadn't seen him until now. It had been months since they last spoke to each other. That everything had went bad between them. She tried to remain calm on the outside but she was sure, she looked as panicked and freaked out as she was feeling on the inside.

"Logan," Rory stated in a casual manner keeping her arms wrapped around her body tight.

"Rory, I hear you married that writer friend of yours," he snickered feeling the need to embarrass the man he had spoken to just a few minutes before hand.

"I did, so now not only is he my friend but my husband," Rory told him with a playful smirk. She had no idea how her words stayed so normal when she was a mess on the inside. She could that for the most part Logan Huntzberger was exactly the same as the day she turned his offer down and he walked out of her life. "That's not a problem for you is it?"

"I don't understand how you can refuse my proposal but you are more than eager to run off and marry that fool," he hissed the anger clouding over his eyes.

"How can I love a person that gave me a stupid ultimatum?" Rory asked her anger once more boiling over. "I've always loved him. Even when I thought I was over him. I did love you, Logan, but it just wasn't enough," Rory explained her voice growing softer.

"Sure," Logan scoffed. "You messed up in marrying him. He can't give you anything, I could've gave you the world," he spit in exasperation.

"I don't need the world, Logan. I need some to be there and support me on what I want, some to call me out on my BS, someone to love me even after I fucked up!" Rory huffed walking away from him. She couldn't believe the nerve of Logan. She should have seen it coming in some form. Jess was everything she needed and more. She was getting sick of everyone doubting her and Jess.

"That's what you think now, but we'll see about that in a few years," Logan called after her. She kept her eyes glued in front of her. She was done talking to Logan. She didn't need to justify her marriage to him of all people. What she did with her life was no longer his concern.

"How can they not got better, grandpa? You both have this ridiculous love affair with Hemingway, going on," Rory stated walking up to wrap her arms around Jess. They both needed their significant other.

"Not everyone can be a fan of Ayn Rand," Jess replied in a playful tone kissing the top of her head.

"I made a mistake and for that I'm sorry. I'll try to work your Grandmother over and seeing that the two of you belong together."

"Thanks, Grandpa," Rory said with a smile hugging him. "I'll be in touch and the next time I get a chance to come this way, we can get a bite to eat away from Grandma."

"I'd enjoy that, Rory. Have a safe trip back to Stars Hollow." Rory gave her Grandpa one more hug and climbed into the equally freezing car. Jess nodded at Richard before walking around to get in himself.

"Pizza or tacos?" Jess asked after a few minutes of silence. Rory looked at him giving him a questioning look. Not that he could see it anyway. "We never did get a chance to stay and have dinner like the rest of them. I'm pretty starving," Jess went on to explain. "Luke's is closed saying your mother dragged him to the party."

"Pizza, will take far to long, so tacos it is," Rory responded. "I'm sorry for tonight, Jess," Rory said with a sigh. "I knew she would be bad, she's made it clear she doesn't like you, but I never thought she'd be that bad." Jess reached over taking her hand in his. He let his thumb caress the back of her hand.

"I knew what to expect, Rory. I'm not mad at you for the way your Grandma acted." Rory went to say something, only for Jess to cut her off. "I have never held you responsible for the way your family acts, Rory. You have a mind of your own and you know how to use it. I know you love me and I love you. Everything else and everyone else can go fuck off. They don't know anything about us or this connection we have." Rory smiled hearing his words loud and clear. He was right, but as of lately, he seemed to always be right.


	8. Chapter 8

Christmas had come and gone. They hadn't made it back to Hartford, or to see Liz like Rory had promised. Rory wanted to spend as much time as she could with Lorelai and Jess. She had done just that spending her remaining days with the two people who meant the most to her. Jess had spent his days with Luke when he wasn't with Rory. They spent Christmas morning at the crap shack. Later that afternoon they had made their way to Luke's for some dinner. Come Christmas night it was a tearful one. Rory had a plane to catch, it was back to the grind for her. They hadn't discussed what they were going to do for New Years, they were going to wait and see.

Rory walked around Truncheon books. The place hadn't changed since the last time she was here. A smile came to her lips the memory of her and Jess sharing a kiss in the place. She scanned the room finding Jess' back to her. She snuck up on him, covering his eyes. Of course she needed to stand on her tip toes.

Jess had stiffened for a brief second when lithe hands went over his eyes. The intoxicating smell of coffee had him relaxing. Having his wife with him for New Years was a surprise, but a welcoming one at that.

"What are you doing here, Rory?" Jess asked taking her hands from his eyes. Turning around he made sure to keep his hands locked with hers.

"I was nearby, couldn't miss ringing in the New Year with my husband," Rory replied with a mile long grin on her face. She wasn't going to ask how he knew it was her, he was amazing like that.

"We're gonna be closing shortly, then we're gonna head out. Happy you could join us," Jess smirked pulling her close.

"It was either stay in and watch the ball drop on TV alone in my hotel room or come get that midnight kiss, hard choices," Rory told him. Her smile never falling.

"Really touched, shocked you picked me," Jess responded finding her lips with his own.

"Break it up, what would your wife say, Mariano?" Rory pulled away from Jess her cheeks a light tint of pink, even with the slight embarrassment, Rory was still able to give Jess a serious look.

"What would that wife say?" Rory asked a smile in her eyes, a stern look on her face.

"Dude! She knows you have a wife?" Rory couldn't remember which guy was which. She had met them for a brief second when they had the grand opening.

"She knows I have a wife, Matt. She'd find it quite ok or a little kinky maybe," Jess smirked, sending Rory a wink.

"Jess! She would not!" Rory yelled shoving him. Jess chuckled wrapping his arm around her.

"You wouldn't share me?" He asked in a pout.

"Uh, no. You're mine and it took me long enough to see that," Rory told him with sincerity.

"What am I missing?" Matt asked scratching his head. "Does this mean you're getting a divorce?"

"I hope not," Jess responded kissing Rory's temple.

"Dude, that's his wife. You bug him about the picture on his desk," Chris informed his friend joining in on the conversation.

"You have a picture of me?" Rory asked with a smirk.

"Of course. Don't you have any pictures of me?" Rory looked down chewing her lip. She had a few pictures of Jess. They were put in the Jess box when he walked out of her life. She had no idea what happened to that box over her years at Yale. It had always remained to hard for her to ever open that box or even look at it. Just the thought of the box that held the contents of her past with Jess made her want to break down. She did have the one picture that had found its way into her bag when she got ready to start the campaign. The picture was before they ever started to date. His feelings for her were clear, but she was with Dean. Jess was at the diner, leaning against the counter a book in hand. The picture had fallen from one of her books.

"An old one," Rory responded leaving out the details. "I think I need a few new ones," she threw the idea out. Jess hated his picture being taken but he agreed with Rory. They did need a few new pictures, now that they were married.

"We'll get some when we have the time. How long you here for?"

"I have to fly out tomorrow night and meet everyone else," Rory told him bringing their happy mood down a notch. "But we have tonight and most the day tomorrow, we can make the best of it," Rory kissed his cheek before pulling away. "I'm going to go get ready, where do you want me to meet you?"

"Let me get a few things and I'll come with," Jess quickly kissed her lips and rushed upstairs.

"So how did you and Jess meet?" Matt asked leaning against a wall. "He doesn't tell us much about his past."

"He moved to town, we found a love of books. Became friends, dated, broke up, typical teenage stuff. He needed to go figure out who he was, and in a way I did too." Jess was lost when he came to Stars Hollow. She hated the way he had left, he could have told her what he was doing, spoke at any moment when he called her. She would have understood. It took time but she had forgave him for the things he had done and the way he had done them. He needed to go, he needed to travel the road he had, to become the person he was today. It was hard to say what would have happened if he had actually stayed in Stars Hollows instead of chasing after his father. Things could have only ended bad between them if she had ran away with him. Things happened the way they were supposed to. The time apart had let them grow into the adults they were, to experience things in life they needed to do without each other. No she wasn't mad at Jess, for the things his teenage self had done. She forgave him a long time ago. They had both learned from the mistakes they each made. After all they were only mistakes.

"You and Jess are made for each other. So damn vague when it comes to the past," Matt muttered in a huff. Rory let a giggle out seeing him get so worked up.

"What's it matter? The past isn't who we are today. It only helped shape us into who we need to be. I have a past with Jess, a past I wouldn't change. The good or the bad. The details mean nothing to anyone but him and I."

"Exactly," Jess responded walking down the last few steps. "The most you need to know about my past is that I lived it and made it through, a little broken at times. But it made me stronger and gave me the best thing outta life," he said walking up to Rory. He had a long and rough road to get to where he was today, but this wasn't the butterfly effect, he didn't wanna go back in time and change a thing about it and risk changing what he had now.

"What's the sense of changing the past when the present has turned out to be something special," Rory replied taking his free hand.

"Exactly," Jess responded kissing her soft lips. "We'll meet you guys at the bar around 9." With that said Jess led Rory out of Truncheon books and let her led the way to the hotel she was staying at.

They both showered. Together had resulted in one hell of a long shower. Not that either one had minded. It was a few minutes after 9 when they stepped out of the hotel doors meeting the cold crisp winter air. They walked with arms around each other, relishing in the fact that they were able to show they were young and in love.

"What took you guys so long?" Matt called over the loud music that was being played. "Wait! On second thought don't tell me." He was quick to take his words back seeing the smirk that had crossed Jess' face and in the dimly lit bar he could see a little tint to Rory's porcelain skin.

"Don't you have a girl to find?" Chris asked. Matt slammed the rest of his beer and headed off.

"Aren't you going to find someone?" Rory asked giving Jess a nod that she wanted a beer.

"I've got all night, I can't leave you alone to let the wolves descend on their pry," Chris joked getting Rory to giggle slightly. Both of them took a quick look around. Everyone was having a good time and eyes seemed to linger in certain places longer then others. "I've seen Jess in a lot of moods over the years, but this happy glow about him, I think is the best one," Chris spoke not wanting any awkward moments to pop up. Rory nodded looking back at things. She had her fair share of fights with Jess and she didn't like the angry Jess that came out. Her eyes locked on his from the bar. She liked this newer, better, happier version of Jess.

"Me too," Rory told him breaking the eye contact with Jess. "I've been through a lot with Jess, and the person he is today, is the best one yet. I've never really seen him this happy before." She wouldn't and couldn't take responsibility for that. This was all Jess's doing, no matter what he said. He had it in him the whole time. He just needed to find it.

"What are we talking about over here?" Jess asked placing Rory's beer in front of her. He was happy to see that after everything that his friends were taking the chance to get to know Rory. He wanted them to get along, part of him needed them all to get along.

"After the campaign, what are you guys going to do?" Chris asked just as Matt slumped down in a chair, clearly upset that he had been turned down.

"You're not leaving us are you?" Matt asked panic starting to set in. Jess was quick to shake his head.

"His work is here. Philadelphia has been good for Jess, I could never think about making him leave this place. This is home to him and soon enough to me as well. We need to find a house here and I need to find a job, but at the end of the day, Philadelphia is our home," Rory explained. Jess smiled even brighter squeezing her leg under the table.

"That has to be the best news I've heard all night," Matt said quickly finding interest in some blonde. This time he had drug Chris with him.

"You are ok with moving to Philadelphia, right?" Jess asked. They really hadn't talked about their future, it was easier to take things as they came, but a house was something they couldn't wait for at the last-minute like other things.

"I'm perfectly fine with moving to Philadelphia. I think the next time I can get away, we need to look for house's. I've looked online, but it's not the same as in person," Rory told him. Jess smiled pulling her into him.

"Deal," Jess told her with a kiss.

They spent the hours having fun watching Chris and Matt try to pick up chicks and fail horribly at it. She sat in Jess's embrace and this was the place she wanted to be the most, in the arms of her lover. This New Year's was a special one because she was bringing it in with the person she was going to spend the rest of her life with. The first New Year of many to come. She was excited to see where there future was going to take them.

**10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1 Happy New Year!**

During the count down Jess had pulled Rory closer to him. The count down became faint as their heartbeats rang out in their ears. Jess's lips came crashing down on hers. Rory smiled into the kiss she shared with Jess. She was ready to get out of the bar and back to the hotel to really heat things up.


	9. Chapter 9

Rory sipped on her coffee looking out over the ocean. She had welcomed California with open arms. Rory was happy to get some warmth instead of the cold. Looking out at the beach her first thought was how out of place Jess looked when he had showed up here, years ago in search of Jimmy. Jess dressed in his black leather jacket with his book in his back pocket. He had to have stuck out like a sore thumb. He was nothing like the surfers that ruled the water. She didn't have to wonder any longer on why he left this place behind him. It wasn't him. And there was no way California could change him, back then he was far too stubborn.

"What do you want?" Rory asked seeing the eyes of the man she had once loved.

"Joining you for coffee," he smirked sitting down.

"What do you want, Logan?" Rory asked not feeling very chatty.

"You still with that author?" He asked avoiding her question.

"That's none of your business, Logan. The day you walked away, leaving me there, is the day, you stopped caring." It was the day she wanted to stop caring for him, but it hadn't been. If you looked in from the outside then you could say that Jess was her rebound in this whole thing. It wasn't until she woke up married to him that she was fully over Logan. With Jess it was easy to forget about the other guys in her life. She had forgotten about Dean every single time she was with Jess.

There was no way Jess was her rebound guy. She always ran back to him when a relationship ended or was in trouble. She couldn't justify that one action until now. It's always been Jess, she couldn't admit to that before, not when she was supposed to be in love with Logan. Work had been her excuse for not accepting his proposal, but deep down somewhere within her, he wasn't Jess. And she had already gave her whole heart to him. Things had never been easy or normal for that matter, but nothing great in life comes easy. You have to work for it. And they had.

"It was a simple question, Rory. I thought we could be friends, if nothing else." Rory shook her head at him. She wanted to throw her coffee on him, but she wouldn't dare be that heartless to the coffee that had been there when she needed it. Coffee really was her best friend at times.

"Us, friends?" Rory asked licking her lips. "You expect me to sit here and be ok with the way you handled things? To be ok with the fact you haven't changed and you're a jerk, Logan," Rory huffed getting up.

"So, you are still with him," he smirked pointing to the ring on her finger. Rory looked down smiling at the ring. How she wished she was with Jess instead of Logan at this moment.

"Goodbye, Logan," Rory told him walking away. She didn't want to hear another word from his mouth. She was done waiting for him. This was her time to walk away from him. She was still upset with him for what he had said to her at her grandparent's Christmas party.

She walked along the boardwalk, wasting time. She knew she had to have her article finished by the end of the day but she was having more fun enjoying the sights. Every town they stopped in, she never got to enjoy it. But today, she was making the time to enjoy the state that her husband had ran to. Her stomach grumbling made her thoughts fade. A faint smile came to her face seeing a hot dog stand. The memory of her going to New York to see Jess played in her head.

"What can I get for ya?" The man asked. Rory studied his feature's for a minute. This couldn't be? There was no way! It had to be a coincidence; it had to be. "I don't got all day, here." Rory shook her thoughts away.

"A hot dog with everything," she finally ordered. The man barked the orders and collected the money from Rory.

"Yo, Jimmy, Sasha's on the phone." Rory tore her gaze away from the ocean. He already looked like Jess, there was no way. A few minutes later he reappeared handing Rory her hot dog.

"Are you Jimmy Mariano?" Rory asked. All she knew about the guy was that he lived in California. She never asked Jess about him. Going to Luke to talk about Jess' father just didn't seem right, so she had let it go. He never talked to her about Jimmy, so he was kinda forgotten about, that is until now. She hadn't meant to ask, it just came out on its own.

"Why do you ask?" He asked eyeing her up.

"Jess Mariano's father?" Rory asked ignoring his question altogether.

"You know my son? How?" The older man asked. She didn't mean to get herself in a jam here. Telling him she was married to his son, just didn't sit right with her. Did Jess even want Jimmy to know?

"I'm Rory," she told him expecting that to answer all his questions.

"The girl my boy pined for, the whole time he was here," Jimmy smirked. "He ever find you?" Rory nodded.

"A few times," she replied.

"That might get cold soon and it wont taste nearly as good," Jimmy told her.

"Right, there's nothing worse than a cold hot dog. But wouldn't that just be considered a cold dog?" Rory asked rambling. The best thing for her to do was to take a bite of her food. A guarantee way of shutting herself up. Jimmy chuckled shaking his head. The pair grew quiet and Rory wandered off to sit and watch the ocean. She found the place to be quite relaxing.

"How is Jess?" Jimmy asked joining her. "We don't really keep in contact with each other these days. I did talk to Liz and she said something about him being married." Rory nervously finished off her food. She didn't expect Jimmy to tell her that much. But could she tell him she was his daughter-in-law without Jess being here?

"He's good," Rory told him. She could choose not to acknowledge the last part of his question. Or she could bite the bullet and be honest with him. Thankfully her phone ringing was her saving grace. "I need to take this," she told him pressing the talk button. "Hi," Rory greeted a smile coming out.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jess asked leaning back on his bed.

"Uh having a hot dog, with uh, Jimmy," Rory told him trying to be quiet.

"How did that happen?" Jess asked feeling a spike in his anger go up.

"I was hungry, on the boardwalk, stopped for a hotdog, because of New York, turns out it's Jimmy's," Rory explained now that Jimmy had went back to work. "It was accident, Jess," Rory pleaded with him.

"It's ok. He ask about me? Marriage? Anything like that?" Jess asked running a hand through his hair.

"Yea, I haven't told him about us being married, I didn't know if I should do that, but he heard from Liz you're married." Jess sighed knowing what he had to do. He hated to do it but he couldn't let Rory be the one to tell him. It wasn't her job to break this news.

"Is he around you?" Jess asked.

"No, he's working," Rory told him looking behind her.

"I'll call him and tell him, so you don't have to be the one. I'll call you later," Jess informed her.

"I'll probably be back in my hotel room in about an hour or so, I do have work that needs to be done. Bye," Rory told him hanging up the phone knowing he wasn't going to reply back to her.

There was just something calming about watching the waves come crashing in. It left her relaxed and memorized. She could spent hours watching the waves. Waste her day away at the beach.

"I had expected you to bolt the first chance you got," Jimmy told her with a little chuckle.

"The ocean was calling my name," Rory replied. She didn't find anything wrong with Jimmy but she hadn't been the one he had ran out on either.

"Jess told me everything, if you ever want a home cooked meal, come to this address before you leave town. I may not be on good terms with Jess, that may never happen, but I would like to get to know my daughter-in-law." Rory smiled taking the folded piece of paper.

"Home cooked meal sounds good, if I happen to have time after I finish my article, I'll make sure to come over. I know things are bad with Jess, but I don't know you, and I think it would only be fair if I got to know you, before judging you. It was nice meeting you, Jimmy," Rory told him getting up. "But work calls."

"I hope to see you tonight, Rory. It was nice meeting you, I can see why Jess loves you so much." Rory smiled at him and walked off. It wasn't as if she had to go, she did have work to do, that could be her excuse. She could see the hotel when her phone started to go off.

"Hey," Rory said maneuvering her way through the crowd of people.

"Sorry about him," Jess said with a sigh. Talking to Jimmy wasn't as bad as he had thought it was going to be.

"It's fine. He, uh, invited me over for dinner," Rory told him stepping onto the elevator. "I'm not sure if I should go," Rory confessed. He was never really apart of Jess' life, she felt she shouldn't be intruding on them.

"You should go, Sasha is alright and you'll get a kick out of Lily, you might have to search through closet or cupboards for her, but you'll like her," Jess smiled thinking about the little girl he thought was so weird, but he had came around to her strange and unique behavior. He felt bad that he was sticking Rory with Jimmy, but Rory didn't hold any resentment against the man like he did. Part of him was happy that he wasn't there to sit through this dinner, it just wasn't fair on Rory's part to be going alone. But this choice was solely up to her to make.

"That's if, I can finish my article in time to go," Rory responded pushing the door to her room open.

"I'll let you go, love you, Rory."

"Love you too, Jess, bye," Rory told him ending the call. She tossed the phone onto her bed and got her laptop opened and turned it on. She had forgotten to tell Jess about her Logan run-in but she figured it would probably be best to keep that under-wraps for now. She wasn't keeping it from him, it was just better to talk about the whole Logan problem face to face.

It hadn't taken her as long as she had thought to get the last of her article wrote, checked over and sent off when she was completely satisfied with it. With her work done for the day, she headed out the door, to find her way. She was feeling apprehensive about going but Jess had told her to go. She did miss having a home cooked meal, it had been weeks since Jess had made her breakfast. She loved her fast food, but there was something special about being able to sit down and enjoy a meal made at home.

Finding the place was easier than she had thought it would be. It was the group of dogs that started to bark that made her jump and start to feel uneasy.

"They're harmless," a women said shooing the dogs off. "You must be, Rory, come on in." Rory unlatched the gate stepping in. She turned around to latch the gate back up. "Jimmy told me you might stop by tonight."

"Yea, I wasn't sure if I would have the time to come," Rory responded walking into the house.

"Have a seat, the food's going to be a while. I'm Sasha and my daughter, Lily is around here somewhere." Rory nodded sitting down. She looked around seeing all the things that made the house feel warm and inviting like a home should feel.

"Thank you," Rory told her taking the glass of iced tea. She got up bringing her drink with her looking at the pictures that been spread throughout the living room. She wasn't shocked that she didn't see any of Jess. She didn't exactly feel comfortable looking through their stuff to find Lily, like Jess had suggested she do. "Can I help with anything?" Rory asked setting her glass on the counter.

"Uh, no, everything has been taken care of." Rory nodded finding comfort in leaning against the counter. "Have a seat at the table, I have to go get my family gathered." Rory sat at the table her nerves starting to come back out and play in the pit of her stomach. She gave a smile seeing a teenage girl sit at the table, book in hand.

"Rory, you made it," Jimmy beamed sitting down.

"Yep," she replied with a smile.

"Jess, never did tell us what happened or how he met you?" Sasha said going around dishing food up. That had gotten Lily's full attention. She didn't want to tell them he had ran out on her. She didn't want to make him seem worse than he had been when he was here.

"He moved to town, his bad boy ways captivated me, in a sense. I was able to see through the act he portrayed. He knew it and he didn't run. We're so alike, it felt right in a sense to be with him. Things ended when he came out here. We both needed to experience life." It was safest to stick that version of the story.

"He needed a huge attitude adjustment," Jimmy said cutting her off.

"He did," Rory agreed.

"Did he win you back?" Lily asked. She had been the one that spent most her time with Jess. He had told her that he was going to get Rory back.

"No, he tried at first, but I refused him. We never had good timing on things. He still needed to find himself and he couldn't do that with me. He left and I continued on with my life. He showed up after he had written his book and gave me a copy, it was good to see he had changed his life around and he was becoming someone, he was proud of. We started over as friends that night," Rory explained a smile on her lips at the faint memory of Jess showing up.

"But you're married," Lily said in more of statement than anything else.

"We are but that happened recently. I've had my ups and downs with Jess through the years. He's always showed up in my life when I needed him the most. This time our work led us to each other. I've always loved, Jess, even when I told him otherwise. Things just happened to work out in our favor."

The subject of Jess had been dropped and Rory explained what it was she was doing. She had taken to Lily. She was younger but she could spend hours talking about books with her. She personally had nothing against Jimmy after the dinner. But she wouldn't push Jess into having a better relationship with him. That wasn't for her to decided. She helped get the dishes cleaned up.

"Thanks for tonight," Rory told them walking to the door. "I had fun."

"You'll have to stop by the next time you're in town. It was good having you here," Sasha told her.

"We'll see. It's not often I came to California," Rory told them walking out the door.

The walk back to the hotel was a different one than she was use to. So much night life going on around her. She avoided the people who looked shady and made it back to the hotel without any incidents even if she swore she had seen some hookers.

"What are you doing up?" Rory asked seeing that Jess was calling her. "It's what? After 1 in the morning for you?"

"Wanted to see how dinner went," he answered sitting on his bed. "It was my turn to do inventory," he further explained.

"Dinner was good, Lily is something else," Rory told him with a yawn.

"Alright, Sleeping Beauty, I'll let you get some sleep. I wanted to check and see if everything was ok and that you got back in one piece." Hearing Jess say that made her heart swell.

"It wasn't as if I had to fight for my life, I'm fine, just exhausted is all."

"Night, Rory. I love you."

"Night, Jess, I love you too," Rory told him hanging up. She laid down, a smile on her face. Today had been filled with unexpected surprises, but it was a good day nonetheless. Her eyes closed on their own accord, letting her drift off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

How was it a simple little test could possible ruin everything you ever planned for your future? How could one little test send your nerves a blaze? It held the answer you needed to know. The outcome of the results would be dire. It could send everything that seemed to be good in your life down a spiral hole with a blink of an eye, with no remorse. It sits and mocks you. Let's you know that life as you know it, is now over and you've got to start over.

She couldn't continue on the campaign trail any longer. She had to face Jess. She had no idea what his reaction would be about this whole thing. She wanted to think that he would be thrilled beyond words, but that might not be the case taking in consideration both of their fathers. Then she'd have to tell her mom and Luke. Then she'd have to go and tell her grandparents and deal with whatever her grandma thought of this situation. She wanted to be happy, but she couldn't be, not now anyway.

"Rory, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on a bus in the middle of nowhere?" Jess asked pushing himself off the floor. He was in the middle checking some of the lower selves. It was the thud of her bag hitting the floor that gained his attention.

She found that she couldn't move, she was froze to her spot. "Are you ok, Rory? You're starting to scare me," Jess spoke with an edge to his voice. He closed the gap between them, cupping her face in his hands. He could see a mix of emotions surge through her cool blue eyes. He just didn't know what could cause her to freeze up like this. He had never seen her like this before.

"What's with sleeping beauty?" Matt asked walking through the door being forced to squeeze past Rory.

"I'm taking a break," Jess told him ignoring Matt's question. Matt shrugged going back to work. Jess had managed to get Rory outside and down the block.

Her feet moved on their on accord, words refused to come out of her mouth. If it was this hard to tell Jess, it was going to be even harder to tell the rest of them. Couldn't see just send out a mass email explaining her situation? That would be easier on her. But she couldn't do that.

The sweet smell of roasted coffee had her relaxing. She panicked knowing Jess would figure out something serious was going on when she had to refuse the coffee. She couldn't drink it anymore. She was more pre-cautious than her mom has ever been, not that Lorelai was reckless.

"Your coffee is going to go cold," Jess pointed out. She wasn't sure how much time had passed her. Not talking and she wasn't drinking her coffee, both were huge red flags.

He couldn't figure out what was bothering her. Normally she would ramble on about everything in the world when something was bugging her no matter how small or huge it was. She'd also be on her third cup of coffee by now.

Rory pushed the cup that held the black liquid away from her with the dying smell. She wanted to hold his hand to keep him from bolting when she was able to tell him the news that was eating away at her. She thought better of it though, giving him the chance to bolt if he needed to. It was a lot to take in.

"Hi," she greeted with a smile that did nothing to make Jess relax. She could hear Paris in her ear, threatening her to open her mouth and let the words out. It would be the only way for her to relax, she had to woman up and tell him.

"Hi," Jess replied before she get her bearings in order and tell him. She could have told him hi once more and play their little game or she could finally tell him what was going on.

"How do you feel about having kids of your own? Being a father?" She asked taking a whole different course of action. She wanted to feel him out first to better gage his reaction when she told him.

"It's not something I've put much thought in to, Rory. Not with how Jimmy had run off. I don't want to be like that, ever. I do know that right now isn't the time for us to have kids. You're on the road and we don't have our own house. Where is this coming from?" Jess asked seeing rage surge behind his wife's eyes that were now a dark blue color.

"I'm pregnant, asshole," Rory snapped getting up. She stormed outside, letting her feet carry her away as the tears started to fall freely down her face. Her arms hugged her body tight. She had remembered a park somewhere near by, she just didn't know how to get there.

Jess had followed her out with his eyes. She was pregnant; with his child. He should have been overjoyed, panicked even, but he was calm as could be. Neither one of them had come from fathers that could stick around. He wasn't afraid that he would make that same mistake, he had learned from Jimmy's mistake greatly. What was he waiting for?

He started to walk the way Rory had went. It wasn't that hard to find her. He stayed back letting her go where she wished. They couldn't talk at the moment. It was best if he let her have some more space.

Within seconds of her sitting down on an empty park bench, Jess was right there.

"How far along?" He asked. He didn't need that answered. The only time they had sex was on New Year's and it was now the middle of March.

"A little over 10 weeks," she whispered, refusing to look at him. He counted in his head and it added up, but he knew that. He took a deep breath ready for this conversation to turn serious.

"You can't ask a question like that and get bent out of shape with the answer I give you," he started out. "I didn't know you where pregnant, Rory. I thought it was a hypothetical question." He paused waiting to see if Rory had anything to say. But she didn't. "These first few months won't be easy, but we can make it work. I want this, Rory. It'll all work out," he soothed taking her hand in his.

"Will it?" She croaked out, clearing her throat.

"It will, it has to, doesn't it?" He asked.

"In some way, I suppose," she replied back with a sigh.

"Does Mommy dearest know?" Jess asked wanting to see the bright smile his wife had.

"Just you," Rory replied back. "We don't have time to waste, Jess. We need to find a house or an apartment." He couldn't argue with that. They couldn't raise a child sharing a place with Matt and Chris.

"We'll make an appointment tomorrow to check out a few places, we've got this under control, Rory. We're gonna have to make a trip to Stars Hollow to tell your Mom."

"I know but for now, I want this to be between us. Is it wrong for us to keep this between us?"

"No, we'll get everything taken care of and go from there. We'll have to find a doctor, have you been to the doctor?" Jess asked, the second the thought popped into his head. Rory shook her head. She was a wreck when the idea popped into her head. She bought the test but it took her an extra week to actually take it and when the answer was right there written out for her, she quit and went straight to Philly.

"We should do that now," Rory told him. "I'm going to find a paper to work at. This really is the start of our life's, Jess." He leaned in capturing her lips with his. It really was and he couldn't wait to start this new journey with her.


	11. Chapter 11

The only downside to being out of work and pregnant, she had nothing to do during the day. She had already cleaned the apartment. She hadn't cleaned any of the bedrooms. The bedroom that had turned into hers and Jess' she had cleaned, but there wasn't much to that. How he had managed to get the biggest bedroom was beyond her, she was just glad that they weren't stuffed into one of the smaller rooms.

The last two weeks had moved by like a snail. She had yet to hear back on any of the job's she had applied to. She was starting to get worried that no paper would want her. She was a failure for just dropping off the Obama campaign. No paper wanted a quitter, or someone who was pregnant that would only be able to be around for a few months before needing to take maternity leave.

She was starting to think she should have stayed a few weeks longer on the campaign trail, long enough until she heard back from a paper in Philly. She was going stir crazy sitting around doing nothing. She offered to help in the store but they had assured her she free to explore the city that was now her home. Playing tourist alone wasn't very fun, in fact it was rather boring.

"Someone called?" Lorelai asked barging into the apartment. Rory couldn't contain her smile. She turned her attention from the TV to the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked leaping from her spot to envelop her mom in a massive hug.

"Jess, called. Begged me to come. A mother needs details, Rory. I need more on why you're here and not in some fancy ballroom. What's going on with you?" Lorelai asked hugging her daughter tight. Rory would have loved to hear Jess on the phone begging for Lorelai to show up. That would have been the prefect blackmail for years to come.

"There's this great coffee place around the corner," Rory told her, avoiding the question at hand.

"Coffee, I could use some," Lorelai responded. Feeling it would be best to do this at her daughter's pace. Rory disappeared down the hall for a brief second.

"Ok, let's go," Rory announced walking back into the livingroom. Lorelai followed Rory.

"You off?" Jess asked, seeing his wife appear before him.

"Yep," Rory offered, kissing his cheek.

"Have fun," Jess called, getting back to work.

They walked in silence as they walked the block and a half to the café. They ordered their drinks and sat at table that was in the corner far away from the rest of the customers. This silent act was getting to Lorelai. Being called to Philadelphia for unknown reasons, was a bit scary. Seeing her daughter fidget before her was far worse.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on? Or did I get pull it from you?" She finally asked. "You feeling ok? I don't understand how you could pass up coffee for a mango smoothie."

"Pregnant," Rory came right out and said it. There was no point in beating around the bush on the subject. She wouldn't be able to hold Lorelai off all day long. The less nerves she had now made it that much easier to tell her the news she wanted to share the moment she found out.

"Pregnant? As in, you are with child? I'm going to be a grandma?" Lorelai asked rattling questions off in a state of shock. Rory let a small laugh escape her lips. This wasn't a time for jokes and laughter. If Lorelai had been paying attention and put the little things together, then maybe she would have seen this coming.

"As in all those things," she clarified. Rory winced watching the color drain from her mother's face. "Drink some coffee," Rory encouraged her. Lorelai did just that downing her cup of coffee.

This was a lot to take in. Her baby was going to have a baby of her own. It was insane to think that her little girl was old enough to have a baby of her own.

"That's great, honey," Lorelai told her with a smile. It wasn't ideal that her daughter was pregnant now. But on the flip side of this whole thing. She was married and Jess was staying put, so she had to give him some credit there. "How'd Jess take the news?"

"It was a bit rocky, but it was my fault for that. He's excited, we're trying to look for a house or an apartment of our own. I'm waiting to hear back from papers around here. Which bites," Rory sighed thinking about to her unemployed life.

"In all of that, I got that you have uprooted your life, Jess is happy as a clam, but what about you, Hun? Is this what you want? Are you happy?" Lorelai asked concern etched on her face.

"I was nervous at first," Rory told her looking down for a smile to come out. "Now? I'm happy. I never thought that I would be married, and so in love that it hurt. But I am. Adding a baby right now wasn't ideal, but it happened and we're dealing with it and I'm stoked." The smile Rory wore was contagious.

"That's awesome, sweets," Lorelai told her, placing her hand on top of her daughters. "I don't want to ruin this happy mood, but when do you plan on telling the grandparents?"

"Grandma wont be happy. I don't know about Grandpa," Rory sighed. "I feel like I need to have everything in order here first. A job, a place of our own, before I ever attempt to tell them this news." There was logic behind it.

"Whatever you think is right, I'm behind you on this. Jess wasn't my favorite person for you to end up with, but he's still around and that's saying something." Rory jumped up from her chair and hugged her mom. For her to say something like that meant the world to Rory. "Why don't you show me around, Philly?" Lorelai suggested, done talking about Jess for the time being.

"I'm not the best person to give you a tour. But I do know where the best Philly cheese steaks are," Rory beamed heading for the door.

"A Gilmore can never pass up the best food in town!" Lorelai exclaimed joining her daughter. They linked arms and walked down the street.

On the way of getting lost, they had passed a house that was for sale. Rory stopped to marvel at the house. It was a Victorian era house. The stone wall and the red panels with the white windows drew her in. She was in love on the outside of the house. She quickly noted the information. She's be sure to talk to Jess and get something going so she could see the inside of the house.

"It's gorgeous on the outside," Lorelai commented.

"I hope the inside is breath-taking," Rory replied in a dreamy sigh.

"Hard to say, sweets. Now where's that cheese steak?" Lorelai asked looking around. Rory looked around, wondering how they had happened to get so far off track. They had walked the way they had come for quite a few blocks.

"I don't remember going that far of course," Rory thought out loud.

"Things happen." Lorelai shrugged, putting an arm around her daughter.

"How's the inn? Luke?" Rory asked as they walked ready to talk about things other than herself.

"Luke is well, Luke. The inn is going good." Rory frowned hearing how short her mothers answers to her questions were. Lorelai was known for ranting and raving about things.

"What's going on?" Rory asked finally coming to the place she had wanted to come to.

"Things are weird with Luke as of late," Lorelai sighed walking in.

"Things seemed fine when I was there for Christmas. It looked like things were getting to be serious again. What happened?"

"That's it! Things have gotten serious again and the last time they didn't work out. I don't want things to end badly with him. I don't want things to end at all with him," Lorelai told her in one breath.

"Then don't let it be the end, Mom," Rory told her going to the counter to order their food.

"It's not the simple or easy, Rory," Lorelai mocked handing cash over.

"Let it be and it will be," Rory stated. She wasn't even going to argue over paying for lunch. "Talk to him, you need to do that this time around. Make him let you in. Every little concern you have about things, talk to him. Be open and honest with him. You gotta make it work. Don't let him push you away. Shove back if you have too."

"When did you became so wise with relationships?" Lorelai asked taking the tray of food and sitting down at a table.

"I've had a few of them. You learn new and different things. Just something I had picked up along the way," Rory told her with a shrug taking her sandwich.

From there, their topics became less important. Rory couldn't remember what they spoke about for the most part and that was ok to her. She had so many things to worry about, she didn't need useless information laying to waste in her mind. What had felt like a few minutes turned out to be a full day.

"I should get back before it gets any later. I'm sure that husband of yours is wondering where you're at." Rory shrugged at the words her mom spoke. Being pregnant was scary and she wanted her mom close by. She didn't want her mom to go back to Stars Hollow. She didn't care if she was being selfish or not.

"Can't you stay?" Rory pouted. Lorelai smiled pulling her own baby to her.

"I can't, Rory. It's not like you're traveling any longer. I know where you live, in a sense. It's under a 4 hour drive, so we're close," Lorelai explained rubbing her daughter's back.

"I know, but, I still need my mom." She felt like a little kid admitting that to her mom.

"I raised you that way for a reason, sweets. Love you," Lorelai told her with a kiss to the cheek.

"Love you, mom." Rory waited for her mom's jeep to be out of sight before going in to the store. She went up to the apartment, not wanting to disturb a last-minute sale Jess had going on. She really wished she would have stayed downstairs when she was met with Matt and Chris fighting over what they should get to eat.

"Rory, pizza or subs?" Matt asked seeing Rory enter.

"I'm not hungry," Rory pointed out. "Also don't you, Matt have a date with that girl from two nights ago?" Rory asked. Matt jumped up swearing under his breath as he went to his room. Chris sat laughing in the chair. "I believe you have date with your hand, Chris," Rory smirked walking to the bedroom.

"I so chose the wrong time to walk in," Jess muttered under his breath, following Rory to the bedroom. "Have fun with your Mom?" Jess asked sitting on the bed. He watched as Rory pulled her shirt up and looked at her stomach in the mirror.

"I did, thanks for making her come today," Rory told him, looking at him for a second.

"It's nothing. I know it's been hurting that you haven't been able to tell her the news, it was the least I could do," he replied. "What's this?" Jess asked looking at the paper that laid on the bed.

"A house, I came across with Mom today. I love the outside of it, Jess. It seems like the perfect little house," Rory gushed joining Jess on the bed.

"I'll call and see when we can have a look." He kissed her head. Rory chewed on her lip waiting for Jess to return on when they could check the house out. "You busy tonight?" Jess asked sticking his head back into the room. She shook her head. Her plans consisted of hanging out with her husband. He disappeared for a few minutes.

"So?" Rory asked the second Jess joined her again.

"We have 2 hours to waste before we have to be there. What were the two of doing that far away? It's like on the other side of town."

"We were walking and weren't paying attention to where we going on our way for cheese steaks," She shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. Jess shook his head.

It hadn't taken them long to fill the 2 hour wait. They left early enough they could stop off and get a quick bite to eat before they headed off.

"How'd your Mom take the news?" Jess asked on the drive to the house.

"Shock is an understatement. But she's happy for us," Rory told him with a smile. He smiled gently squeezing her knee. He was happy that everything had went smoothly. But it wasn't Lorelai that he was worried about. It was the reaction they were to get from Richard and Emily, he was concerned about.

Seeing the house, Jess could see why Rory had fallen in love with the place. It was stunning home, on the outside. They were allowed to have a look around the house by themselves. If they had any questions they could come back and talk to the real estate agent.

There was hard wood floors, throughout the downstairs. They walked through the formal Dining Room, the sunny Living Room and the cozy Den. Rory hadn't even seen upstairs yet and this place already felt like home. The Living Room features a wood mantle corner fireplace and one-foot deep window sills. The Dining Room features four lattice bay windows with those deep sills. The eat-in Kitchen has been totally renovated with handsome wood cabinets, topped with granite counters and enhanced with new stainless appliances.

The view of the yard and backdoor access, along with the spaciousness of this Kitchen make it a natural gathering place for family and friends alike. There is also a small Den and a Powder Room tucked away on the first floor. Much of the charm of this home comes from the unusual layout of the center-hall triangular staircase, which both Jess and Rory envied. Complete with detailed newel posts and their carved wood balustrades/spindles. The three Bedrooms and Hall Bathroom of the 2nd floor are all spacious, bright and sunny. The back Bedroom interconnects with the middle Bedroom and has the other wood mantle fireplace. The 3rd floor has a most convenient Laundry Room that opens to the Hall Bathroom. There are also two nice-size Bedrooms with ceiling lines that gives the rooms a special warm feel.

They stepped outside into the backyard and they're was plenty of room for a swing-set, a pool and even a barbeque grill and a patio set. The house seemed to be the perfect fit for them.

"Parking?" Jess asked when they were asked if they had any questions.

"Off-street parking." Was the answer. "Elementary school is less than a mile away, high school is a little over a mile away. Anything else?" She asked.

"What's the asking price?" Jess asked looking at Rory.

"$299,900." They shared a look. "I'll give you a minute to talk it over."

"I know it seems like a lot, but Jess this place is perfect for us. We can make it work," she pleaded with him. He had some money saved away. They could make it work, they would be tight on money for sometime but they would get by.

"Ok," he told her with a kiss. He could see that Rory loved the place and he had to admit the place really did feel like home. Rory smiled and looked through the living room, when Jess went to deal with putting the bid in on the place. It wasn't the first place they had seen they really loved. They hadn't gotten the other places; she was hoping that wouldn't be the case this time around. "We'll know in a few days."


	12. Chapter 12

"I got it!" Rory beamed stepping into Jess' office. He gave her a look of confusion. "The job, I had the interview today, at the café on 5th," she explained trying to jog his apparent lagging memory.

"For the small Internet paper," he replied remembering what Rory had been going on about for the last few days. She had been excited that she had a job offer, worried she wouldn't get the job. Stress wasn't what they needed for the baby.

"That's the one. I know it's close to what I was doing when I was on the campaign trail," she rambled sitting on the edge of his desk. "But it's something. And that has to count for something." It wasn't the job she was after, but it was a job and she was able to write articles. She take any job where she could gain the experience she needed to. She couldn't take sitting around not able to do anything. That mixed with having coffee withdrawals wasn't exactly pleasant, but they put up with her. Matt and Chris because Jess threatened them, or so Rory thought. Jess had no choice but to deal with every mood swing she went through.

"And it makes you happy. You can work your way up," Jess suggested, giving Rory his full attention.

"Exactly," Rory agreed. "I have plenty of room to grow and climb the social ladder to my dream job. I'm happy to have it this way," she smiled jumping from his desk. "I gotta call my Mom and let her know my news. Did you hear on the house?" Rory asked with hope to her voice.

"Can't say I have," Jess told her. Rory let a soft sigh out and headed upstairs. "Guys, I'm headed out for a few minutes," Jess announced.

"Good, then you can meet the newest prospect," Matt announced happy he didn't have to go.

"If it's your damn poetry person, you can't escape that!" Jess seethed playfully turning around.

"Nope, this guy wrote a book," Matt smirked.

"Where do I meet him at?" Jess cursed under his breath. He had other things in mind. Matt scribbled the info down on a small scrap of paper. Jess looked it over, seeing that it was on his way. He pulled the door open and vanished into the streets.

Rory paced the apartment waiting for her mom to answer the phone. She had called the house and got the answering machine. She called the inn and Michel had been rude as ever telling her Lorelai wasn't in and he didn't know where she was at. Now it seemed as if her mother wasn't answering her cell either. The only place left she could call was Luke's. She still remembered the number by heart. Her fingers moved quickly over the buttons.

"Luke's." Rory smiled hearing his voice.

"Hey, Luke," Rory greeted.

"Oh, hey, Rory," he greeted wedging the phone between his ear and shoulder. "Your, Mom isn't here. She actually left a few minutes ago." Rory sighed into the phone. She had been missing her mom every place she had called.

"Thanks any how," Rory told him, ready to let him get back to work.

"No problem, hey look, Rory," he said keeping her on the line well he walked to the store closet shutting the door. "Your mom told me your news." Rory sat down frowning a little. She never said she couldn't tell people, she just didn't think her mom would.

"She did?" Rory asked with a small gulp.

"Yeah, and I've talked to Jess. You guys got this," Luke told her. Rory nodded even though he couldn't see her.

"What exactly did she tell you and Jess for that matter?" Rory asked standing to pace again. He would have told her that he had mentioned it to Luke.

"She explained to me about the house you saw, Jess told me about the inside when I asked him about it. What did you think they told me?" He questioned.

"Nothing, just curious, you know how, Mom is. I'll let you get back to your customers," Rory told him.

"Alright, Rory. It was good talking to you," Luke responded searching through the items in the storage closet looking for the item he needed.

"You too, Luke, bye," she told him ending the call. It would be like her mother to blab her secret to Luke. Her mom wasn't the best person to keep a secret. Jess would tell Luke something like being a father in person. Or he wouldn't tell him at all and just show up unannounced one day, baby in tow. She jumped feeling her phone vibrate in her hand.

"Hey, Mom," she answered, seeing it was her mother.

"Fruit of my loin, miss, Mommy already? It's only been a week. The road goes both ways. You can travel to see me too," Lorelai explained to her daughter kicking the front door shut.

"Missing you, is second nature," Rory responded heading to her room seeing Chris and Matt walk in. She shut the door behind her sitting on the bed. "I got it!" She couldn't wait any longer to tell her mom the news.

"That's great sweets," Lorelai responded less than enthused about it.

"You and Jess! I swear!" Rory raved, throwing her free hand in the air.

"Do not classify me with that once upon thug!" Lorelai exploded holding light-heartedness to her voice.

"I shall and will!" Rory quipped back. Lorelai huffed on the other end.

"If you must!" Lorelai stated. "All will be forgiven, if you explain things to Mommy."

"I got the job, for the Internet paper, it's small and they've only been around for about a year. But it's something and I can work from home."

"You can grow and became a better writer. Not that my baby needs it, she's already the best writer around. Congrats Hun."

"Thanks, Mom. For everything." A smile crossed both women's faces.

"You're welcome for everything."

"You could've told me that you had told, Luke about the house. Here, I was panicking that you spilled the beans about me being pregnant," Rory reprimanded, softly rubbing her stomach. She wasn't showing yet.

"It hasn't come up in conversation yet, but you can't blame me for saying something, if you don't show up and tell him yourself. I can only go so long without sharing this wonderful news," Lorelai told her daughter in a serious tone.

"We'll be there as soon we can make it, I hold no promises on how soon that will be."

"I'll take it. I've got to run sweets. Talk soon?" Lorelai asked standing up from the kitchen chair she had taken residency in.

"Yep, later, Mom," Rory said ending the call. She tossed her phone on the bed and ventured out to the main part of the apartment. "Where's Jess?" Rory asked seeing the two men bicker about the plans for the night.

"Errands and he had to meet a potential new author for the store," Matt smirked.

"You pawned the poor guy off on Jess, didn't you?" Rory chuckled sitting on the couch.

"I thought, Jess had one hell of an attitude. Wait tell you meet this guy. He has quite the attitude. Jess should be pissed when it gets back. Which reminds me, I'm going before he shows." Matt quickly hopped up heading downstairs.

"He does enjoy pissing Jess off, huh?" Rory commented shaking her head.

"Since the day we met him. Matt wouldn't leave him be. Been like that ever since. That's how I can tell when something's wrong. When they stop pissing each other off," Chris explained, pushing himself from his spot. Rory nodded in agreement. "I've got plans," Chris said, pointing to the door.

"Uh, ok, don't go around knocking innocent women up, if you get wasted, try to make it to your room before you strip naked and pass out in the bookstore," Rory grimaced, remembering her first week living with the three guys. Chris had gotten piss ass drunk. His clothes trailed from the front door to where he fell over at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'll keep it in mind. But making a promise would frivolous of me," he smirked heading out. Rory giggled leaning back on the couch.

Jess tried to remain calm dealing with the guy who thought he knew everything. He wanted to tell the guy to fuck off, but he couldn't do that. He was already planning Matt's funeral.

He had still been able to show up at the house he needed to. Looking around before slipping into the house, had become second nature to him.


End file.
